The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Oct. 10, 2025, voted 10-9 to favorably report David Wright of South Carolina to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, even as Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse warned that actions inside the agency threaten its independence.

Whitehouse said the agency had suffered a “brain drain” of senior career technical staff and warned that, as he put it, “It looks like a hostile takeover by the Department of Energy,” adding that the current behavior at the NRC made him unable to support Wright’s renomination for now. The vote sends Wright’s nomination to the full Senate for consideration.

Whitehouse described specific concerns about a DOE detailee at the NRC who, he said, “does not have an NRC supervisor” and asked who holds that staffer accountable. He told the committee he had urged the NRC chair to address an “upheaval” of career staff and that, without steps to restore independence and retain technical expertise, he could not support confirmation.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito, chair of the committee, said she would support Wright’s nomination and moved to report the nomination favorably. Capito also said she would “support both of these nominees this morning” when referring to the two presidential nominations before the committee. The committee approved Wright’s nomination by a 10-9 roll call vote.

The discussion distinguished debate and critique from formal action: committee members aired concerns about staffing and agency independence during remarks and questioning, while the committee’s formal decision to report the nomination favorably was recorded in the roll call.

The nomination will proceed to the full Senate for consideration. The committee record shows the yeas were 10 and the nays were 9; individual roll-call details are part of the committee record.