Washington: In a rebuke to the Trump Administration, US House of Representatives has adopted an amendment to its version of the annual defense policy by which no funding would be available for live nuclear weapons testing.
The amendment from Rep. Ben McAdams, was adopted, 227-179, in a mostly party-line vote. The House is expected to vote to pass the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
The amendment marks the second rebuke of the Trump administration amid reports it’s mulling a resumption of nuclear weapons testing. The House Appropriations Committee passed a similar ban earlier this month.
The amendment’s adoption will likely make it harder for House Republicans to vote for the House’s FY21 NDAA, and it likely sets up a fight with the Republican-controlled SASC when leaders of both panels reconcile their versions of the bill.
The FY21 NDAA was voted out of the House Armed Services Committee on a bipartisan 56-0 vote earlier this month.
“Explosive nuclear testing is not necessary to ensure our stockpile remains safe and nothing in this amendment would change that,” McAdams said in a floor speech ahead of the vote. “Explosive nuclear testing causes irreparable harm to human health and to our environment. and jeopardises the US leadership role on nuclear non-proliferation.”
But critics said press reports about a possible resumption in testing were inaccurate and that the amendment would undermine the confidence of US allies who rely on US nuclear deterrent and invite adversaries to test America’s resolve.
The House, separately, adopted an amendment that would give the energy secretary a stronger hand in setting nuclear policy by making him co-chair, alongside the defense secretary, of the Nuclear Weapons Council. The council is charged with the coordinating policy to manage the existing nuclear weapons stockpile and plan future nuclear deterrents.
The vote is the latest move in a running battle over who controls the nuclear weapons budget submission. SASC’s proposed version of the FY21 NDAA would allow the council to edit the budget request after the Energy Department crafts it and before the request is submitted to the White House budget office. But House appropriators earlier this month approved a spending bill that would bar such a move.
