April 26, 2013
TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE–Just how far will a member of Congress go to protect his pork? We\’ve seen a lot of funny stuff over the years, but now a relatively noncontroversial cabinet-level nominee– itself a rarity in Washington–is being held hostage over a boondoggle.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put a hold on the confirmation of prospective Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz on Tuesday until Moniz or the Obama administration gives him the answers he wants on the future of a nuclear project in his home state. The Fiscal Year 2014 budget request released by the White House April 10 cut funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX), a nuclear reprocessing plant located at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. The fact that Moniz received a nearly unanimous vote of confidence from the Senate Energy Committee last week did not faze Graham in the least (of course the one \”no\” vote was from Graham\’s fellow Palmetto State Senator, Tim Scott (R-SC)) . \”This is the leverage I have, and I\’m going to use it,\” Graham told reporters after meeting with Moniz on Wednesday.
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