President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he was nominating Kristine L. Svinicki for another term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a move that goes against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Svinicki became a controversial figure after she accused current NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko of creating an intolerant environment for female staffers.
The re-nomination was announced in typical fashion, coming in an email from the White House Tuesday afternoon. Svinicki is one of two Republicans and the only female sitting on the commission.
Senate Republicans have already come out in favor of her re-nomination, urging Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to act expeditiously.
"With today's renomination of Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it is critical that the Senate act quickly to confirm Ms. Svinicki before her term expires on June 30," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., said in a statement.
He added, "I agree with the White House that there shouldn't be a break in her service on such an important Commission that ensures the safety of our nation's nuclear power plants."
Senators James Inhofe, R-Okla., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., David Vitter,R-Lou., Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and John Boozman, R-Ark., also sent a letter to Boxer urging the speedy approval.
Reid did not come out with an official statement on the nomination but has previously stated his opposition to Svinicki continuing on the commission. Svinicki and fellow NRC staff complained last year of being verbally abused by Jaczko, a former Reid staffer.
In April, Reid said he opposed Svinicki's nomination because she lied about her work on Yucca Mountain, a nuclear waste repository project in Reid's home state to which he is vehemently opposed.
"Furthermore, Commissioner Svinicki has an abysmal record on nuclear safety, demonstrating that she puts the interests of the nuclear industry ahead of the safety of American citizens," Reid Spokesman Adam Jentleson said in an April statement. "Commissioner Svinicki has disqualified herself and does not deserve to be re-nominated."
Several commissioners, including Svinicki and William D. Magwood, have detailed accounts of Chairman Jaczko chastising female staffers in an extreme manner, oftentimes in front of peers and subordinates.
"I spoke with three of the women who have had personal experience with the chairman's extreme behavior," Magwood said during a June 2011 Oversight and Government Reform hearing, according to a letter sent to Jaczko by four congresspeople asking him to explain these remarks.
"Senior female staff in an agency like the NRC are tough, smart women who have succeeded in a male-dominated environment. Enduring this type of abuse and being reduced to tears in front of colleagues and subordinates is a profoundly painful experience for them," he added.
Jaczko said in a subsequent hearing in December he was unaware of having made female colleagues cry, adding, "This is the first time I have heard many of these accusations."
The four congresspeople, including Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Darrell Issa, R-Calif, sent an initial letter to Jaczko on March 12th and a follow-up on Monday, May 7th after receiving no reply.
"Making false statements to Congress is a serious matter," the letter said, referring the Chairman to 18 U.S.C. 1001, which states anyone making false claims to Congress will be imprisoned for not more than five years.
Senate Democrats have not yet said when a vote on Svinicki's nomination might be set.
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