Short Takes

The Senate voted 70-15 on December 2, 2019 to confirm Mr. Dan Brouillette to be the next Secretary of Energy. President Trump nominated Brouillette to lead the Department of Energy in October after Secretary Rick Perry announced his resignation. Brouillette has served as Deputy Secretary of Energy since August 2017. Previously, he served as the Senior Vice President and head of public policy for USAA, a provider of financial services to the military community, and as Vice President of the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Brouillette has also served as Chief of Staff to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) -- the federal agency that enforces U.S. labor laws -- has extended by 30 days the deadline to submit comments on their proposed rule stating that graduate students are not "employees" with a right to unionize. If implemented, the proposed rule would weaken unionization efforts by graduate students at private universities. NLRB is now accepting comments until January 15, 2020. Instructions for submitting comments are available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-12-04/html/2019-26177.htm. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) has released a report, entitled "Federal Fumbles," highlighting examples of what he considers wasteful government funding. Among the cited examples is a $1.7 million research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news