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Here's a look at documents from all members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate
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U.S. Africa Command Commander Anderson Testifies Before Senate Armed Services Committee
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Armed Services Committee released the following testimony by Air Force Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, from a May 14, 2026, hearing on the fiscal 2027 budget request:* * *
Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the Committee, United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) is guided by the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) to protect the homeland, advance U.S. interests, and respond to crises across Africa. We work with our African Partners, our Allies, and our interagency counterparts to enable collective security, which opens ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Armed Services Committee released the following testimony by Air Force Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, from a May 14, 2026, hearing on the fiscal 2027 budget request: * * * Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the Committee, United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) is guided by the 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) to protect the homeland, advance U.S. interests, and respond to crises across Africa. We work with our African Partners, our Allies, and our interagency counterparts to enable collective security, which opensthe door for investment, and ultimately leads to joint prosperity. This statement outlines USAFRICOM's efforts to address these challenges through military operations by emphasizing three critical levers: defense economics, innovation, and information operations.
Africa's vast resources, strategic geography, and growing population make it critical to U.S. national security. By 2050, Africa will account for 25 percent of the global population, with 12 of the 20 fastest-growing economies in 2025 located on the continent. However, the youth bulge presents risks, as terror groups exploit unemployment and economic instability to recruit vulnerable populations. USAFRICOM works with partners to prevent violent extremist organizations and malign actors from exporting threats to U.S. interests while providing the unique support only the United States can offer.
It's been five years since I commanded Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF), and in that time, terrorism across the continent has intensified, while our access, basing, and overflight have been dramatically diminished due to successive coups and strained bilateral relationships, limiting our ability to respond to crises and protect at-risk embassies. The threats in Africa are becoming more demanding, with growing challenges from multiple terror organizations and destabilizing activities from disruptive actors like Russia, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Iran. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) remain a threat to the homeland today, and if al-Qa'ida groups continue their expansion, they will be positioned to establish a caliphate on the continent. We are already seeing them threaten African capitals.
Given this environment, USAFRICOM must work collaboratively with the interagency to reduce risks to U.S. and Ally national security interests. At the same time, resourcing for certain critical force protection and intelligence-gathering capabilities has not kept pace with the evolving threat environment.
Key Challenge: Terrorism
Terrorism remains the most acute threat in Africa. USAFRICOM's area of responsibility has become the center of gravity for global jihadism, with West Africa accounting for over 51 percent of global terror-related deaths in 2024. ISIS, through affiliates like ISIS-West Africa and ISIS-Sahel, seeks to establish a caliphate by exploiting weak governance and ungoverned spaces in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qa'ida affiliate, operates in the Sahel, using violence and local grievances to expand its influence and destabilize governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Both groups maintain transnational networks that facilitate the flow of fighters, weapons, and funding, posing a direct threat to regional stability and global security. JNIM has perfected tactics to cut off fuel and critical transportation routes, first targeting the cities of Kayes and Nioro du Sahel before nearly taking over Bamako, the capital of Mali. Unlike the ISIS capture of Mosul in 2014, this would be a terrorist organization securing the resources and trappings of a nation state, underscoring the need to monitor and interdict these growing threats. JNIM also has the ambition to threaten the Homeland and conduct attacks on U.S. personnel and facilities.
Additionally, ISIS also seeks to establish a caliphate in Africa, with ISIS-West Africa and ISIS-Sahel becoming increasingly more collaborative. This collaboration among affiliates equates to more funding, more coordination, increased violence regionally, and the hub to direct aspirants across the globe. These organizations have also made calls to conduct kidnappings in the region--just last year, an American missionary pilot was taken hostage in Niger and remains missing today. This contrasts sharply with the 2020 rescue of Philip Walton, where assured access, ISR, and overflight enabled a successful rescue operation within 96 hours--we lack that assured access and ISR now.
Expanding terrorism is not confined to West Africa; in East Africa, terror groups like alShabaab continue to exploit similar vulnerabilities and expand their influence. Al-Shabaab remains one of the deadliest terrorist organizations on the planet and continues to attack U.S. personnel and facilities in Somalia. Just last year, Cholo Abdi Abdullah, a highly trained alShabaab operative, was sentenced in U.S. courts to life in prison after nearly completing training to be a commercial pilot to conduct a 9/11-style terror attack on the United States. ISIS and alQa'ida groups continue to expand and recruit fighters from around the world to position themselves to execute external operations in the future. These groups, if not degraded, could become a much larger problem for U.S. interests, as they have in the past. Continued vigilance in East Africa, particularly Djibouti and Kenya, remains essential to combatting the very real threat of external operations emanating from Somalia that targets the U.S. homeland or our Allies. As evidenced by the foiled attack plots in Detroit and Charlotte late last year, the threat to the homeland is now.
The convergence of terrorism and narco-trafficking further exacerbates these threats.
African-based terror groups are financed to an increasing degree by drug cartels, expanding those terror group's reach and lethality. This convergence not only destabilizes the region but also poses a direct threat to U.S. national security interests. Since 2024, we have seen an increased flow of drugs emanating from the Americas through Africa into Europe, with a nearly sixfold increase of cocaine flowing across the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Mexican, Venezuelan, and Caribbean cartels seek to franchise industrial-scale drug production on the continent by exporting lab expertise to Africa and using Africa as a transshipment point to generate revenue. Both the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel have established methamphetamine production labs in Africa to exploit an expanding market in permissive regions. Mexican cartel members were arrested during raids in several African countries at some of the largest labs ever discovered. This convergence turns a fragile security landscape into a pressure cooker, demanding interagency focus and coordination to prevent a rupture.
Layered into all those challenges is a growing national security threat for our African leaders. Africa's rapidly growing youth population presents a significant challenge for global and regional security. By 2050, Africa will hold one-third of the global working-age population.
African leaders consistently identify youth unemployment as one of their top national security issues, noting the potential of leaving millions vulnerable to exploitation by violent extremist organizations like JNIM and ISIS. Addressing youth unemployment is therefore not just a development imperative but a critical component of counterterrorism and global security strategies.
Key Challenge: Disruptive Actors
The PRC sees Africa as their second continent and critical to their economic and military future. Beijing's aggressive investments in Africa's mining, infrastructure, and transportation sectors are designed to secure control over critical minerals and strategic infrastructure. For example, Beijing dominates 90 percent of battery-grade graphite processing, a resource critical for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and advanced military technologies like 5th and 6th generation fighter jets. This near-monopoly creates a structural vulnerability for the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, forcing a potential future trade-off between achieving military readiness or maintaining private-sector technology growth in a protracted conflict.
Beyond minerals, China's influence extends to infrastructure and the maritime domain.
Dual-use deep-water ports provide Beijing with a persistent security presence under the guise of economic development. The ability for the PRC military to operate from a dual-use base on the West coast of Africa would significantly complicate our security posture and be a direct threat to the U.S. homeland. Additionally, China's exploitation of Africa's maritime resources, including illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, deprives coastal nations of critical economic resources, further entrenching Beijing's influence over local economies. China's strategy fuses economic influence with security leverage, using investments in critical minerals, infrastructure, and maritime assets to reshape Africa's geopolitical landscape and challenge U.S. interests.
Russia exploits instability to advance its objectives. Africa has become "Putin's Purse," with gold extraction from the Sahel and Central African Republic generating over $2.5 billion since 2022 to evade sanctions and sustain Moscow's strained economy. Under the guise of counter-terrorism operations, Russia deploys paramilitary forces, such as the Africa Corps, to the Sahel and North Africa to secure access to critical resources. This strategy enables Russia to insulate and protect regimes that support its activities while simultaneously undermining U.S. influence and limiting NATO's reach on its southern flank. Adding to this, Russia actively recruits thousands of vulnerable youths through clandestine human trafficking networks, sending them to fight on the front lines in Ukraine. Complementing these efforts, Russia employs a robust dis-information network to foster instability and obstruct U.S. engagement. In essence, Russia's strategy is clear: insulate, extract, and exploit.
Iran's network continues destabilizing activities in Africa to challenge U.S. interests.
Tehran's unmanned aerial systems and advanced conventional weapons smuggled through intermediaries extend the Iranian Threat Network and Houthis into Africa, posing a growing threat to U.S. forces and African partners. Al-Shabaab receives advanced Iranian weapons and training along with weaponized drones that they've employed against African Union Forces.
Additionally, this relationship has expanded Houthi smuggling routes, allowing them to conduct over 100 attacks on commercial vessels and nearly 50 piracy-related events in the Gulf of Aden since 2023--a marked increase from the previous several years.
Key Challenge: Eroding Access and Basing
USAFRICOM's crisis response hinges on assured access to the continent. However, as our access diminishes, we find ourselves increasingly unable to respond effectively to the growing number of crises. Since the tragic events in Benghazi, Libya, we have been given clear guidance to ensure timely responses to protect U.S. personnel and facilities. This includes security augmentation and, when necessary, military-assisted departures. USAFRICOM is tasked with safeguarding 17 High-Risk/High-Threat diplomatic posts across Africa, while the rest of the world manages the other 15 posts combined.
Main Effort: Operations, Activities, and Investment & Supporting Levers
My main effort is to leverage USAFRICOM's unique advantage: the ability to convene and connect partners, provide targeted but critical U.S. military assistance (such as ISR, intelligence sharing, limited strikes, operational planning, and specialized training), and integrate interagency tools, allies, and the private sector. Military operations, with a weight of effort on innovation and experimentation and information operations, integrated with defense economics, enable USAFRICOM to address these challenges in flexible and effective ways. USAFRICOM's priorities, informed by the NDS, are clear: defend the U.S. homeland, promote American interests, and ensure effective crisis response.
Dismantling Terrorist Networks and Leadership
USAFRICOM is committed to fulfilling the directives of the 2026 NDS. To address the rising terrorist threat to the Homeland from across Africa, we must adapt, innovate, and seek additional support. Somalia remains the focal point of our counterterrorism efforts, where we have made significant progress over the last year in disrupting ISIS-Somalia by working closely with local partners. In Puntland, U.S. fire support and ISR, has kept ISIS leaders underground in caves, disrupting their command and control, demonstrating how small investments from the Joint Force can empower local partners to achieve outsized results. This sustained pressure has severely limited ISIS's effectiveness and ability to communicate globally.
In southern Somalia, our efforts against al-Shabaab have been bolstered by partnerships with Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda, enabling steady progress in degrading the group. By prioritizing partners with the capability, political will, and commitment to mitigating regional threats, we have applied select Title 10 and 22 resources judiciously, ensuring our partners take on a greater share of the burden. Disrupting ISIS leadership and repelling al-Shabaab from Mogadishu remain critical priorities. The gains of the last year show that our deliberate strike campaign, coupled with partner support, is delivering tangible effects against terrorists who seek to harm us. These efforts are further supported by a coalition of international partners who have been instrumental in sustaining progress.
While Somalia remains a focal point of AFRICOM's counterterrorism efforts, the challenges in West Africa are equally pressing. Our "monitor and respond" approach is increasingly constrained by the Black Hole. Recent events in West Africa have opened the door to expanded information-sharing relationships with Nigeria, the Multi-National Joint Task Force and other regional partners. However, these efforts alone are insufficient to close the gaps. We propose developing innovative security ecosystems that combine limited airborne ISR, sensors, and space-based ISR, all connected through a commercial satellite uplink and integrated AIdriven processing exploitation, and dissemination to illuminate terrorist activity in the Sahel.
AFRICOM requires a flexible combination of intelligence assets, specialized personnel, and unique supporting capabilities to assist our partners
We are also assisting law enforcement and allies to address the growing trend of Africanbased terrorist groups funding their operations through partnerships with Mexican drug cartels, trading safe passage for financial support. Just last year, the French Navy, with support from U.S. intelligence, conducted three of the largest cocaine seizures emanating from South America ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. I am reorganizing my staff to maximize the support we provide with existing resources and leveraging key partners in the interagency, our Allies, and multi-national organizations to streamline our support to these efforts.
Addressing the complex system of threats requires a different approach. Leveraging innovation and experimentation is a critical node to address terrorism and narco-trafficking on the continent. Exercise FLINTLOCK serves as a 'battle lab' for refining counterterrorism approaches, bringing together African partners and U.S. special operations forces to rehearse operations annually. It also allows us to experiment with low-cost technologies, such as commercial ISR and ground-based sensors coupled with artificial intelligence that builds an ecosystem that empowers our partners to monitor and disrupt terrorist movements. By integrating these tools into FLINTLOCK, we ensure they are effective and scalable, enabling our partners to take on a greater share of the fight without requiring a large U.S. footprint.
Advancing U.S. Interests and Countering Disruptive Actors
USAFRICOM is leveraging its unique authorities to integrate key levers such as defense economics, experimentation, and information operations to incentivize burden-shifting, secure access to critical materials, and bolster our defense supply chains. These efforts advance U.S. interests by demonstrating to our African partners how to build their own defense capacity beyond traditional security assistance.
Exercises like AFRICAN LION and the EXPRESS maritime exercise series serve as platforms for both strengthening relationships and driving innovation. Morocco is a key partner having hosted Exercise AFRICAN LION for the past 21 years and is investing in centers of excellence where they are bringing in African partners for training. Additionally, the recognition of Western Sahara has opened the door for increased partnership as Morocco has said they want to deepen the relationship with the United States. These exercises allow the United States and its Allies to operate in key strategic terrain, while also testing advanced capabilities in permissive environments and enabling the operational independence of our African partners.
Africa's vast distances, austere conditions, and contested information spaces make it an ideal location for experimentation. In East Africa, we have successfully experimented with innovative and cost-effective methods to counter unmanned aerial systems. These successful tests have allowed us to rapidly field new defensive capabilities, enhancing the security of our forces and partners. By treating innovation and experimentation as a warfighting function, USAFRICOM works to test and validate solutions for large-scale combat operations using live data. These innovations not only strengthen African security but also provide valuable insights for global application, building readiness and ensuring the United States remains ahead of its adversaries.
Through key leader engagements and conferences, USAFRICOM amplifies its convening power to foster collaboration and build trust. The Yaounde Accord, a West African regional maritime security framework, exemplifies the type of win-win agreements that USAFRICOM facilitates by helping African nations share maritime domain awareness and information to combat piracy, illegal fishing, and trafficking, countering China's illicit maritime activities and illuminating ghost fleets transiting the Gulf of Guinea. These engagements not only strengthen partnerships but also align efforts to address shared challenges, ensuring that African nations are empowered to take the lead in securing their regions. To address this concern and capitalize on our convening power, we are standing up a Defense Economics Engagement Cell within our headquarters designed to integrate economic development into our overall strategy and engagements.
Operations in the Information Environment are critical to USAFRICOM's mission, as adversaries like Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), the PRC, and Russia use disinformation to erode U.S. credibility, destabilize partner nations, and exploit vulnerable populations that puts regional allies and partners efforts to degrade and destroy terrorist organizations at risk.
USAFRICOM counters these narratives by exposing the harmful impacts of malign activities, such as the Chinese factory chemical spill in Zambia, which released nearly 1.5 million tons of toxic mining debris into the country's largest river--a vital drinking source--devastating nearly 300,000 households.
Similarly, Russia's exploitation of miners in the Central African Republic highlights the destructive consequences of adversarial actions. By promoting truthful narratives and empowering African partners to safeguard their national interests, USAFRICOM strengthens resilience against terrorism and external manipulation, laying the foundation for long-term stability across the continent.
This year's 250th Years of Freedom provides a unique opportunity to highlight the positive contributions of U.S. engagement in Africa. However, resource constraints limit our ability to fully amplify these efforts, underscoring the need for additional investments in cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence to maintain situational awareness and shape positive perceptions across Africa.
Rebuilding Access: Partnerships, Agility, and Influence in Africa
Regaining access and enhancing crisis response in Africa requires the right assets, trust, influence, and sustained goodwill. USAFRICOM's ability to respond to crises depends on establishing flexible, temporary posture locations that enable rapid deployment and withdrawal.
When indications and warnings signal a threat to U.S. interests, USAFRICOM will use internal assets to respond, or we will request external assets to execute precise, time-bound operations that neutralize threats quickly and effectively.
USAFRICOM uses our ability to convene the interagency and U.S. companies to bring targeted investments to align economic and security interests, creating mutually beneficial relationships. The Manda Bay, Kenya runway project exemplifies this approach. This project will not only enhance counterterrorism operations by enabling U.S. and Kenyan forces to project power more effectively against al-Shabaab but also sits on an economic corridor at the intersection of security and economic development. The upgraded runway will support heavy cargo planes, fighter jets, and unmanned aircraft, improving logistics and operational reach.
Kenya also contributed nearly $60 million to this effort-highlighting their commitment. By aligning economic development with security objectives, USAFRICOM is able to foster deeper relations with East African nations to take on a greater burden against terrorists in the region and provide a counter to PRC investments.
USAFRICOM employs a range of security cooperation programs to build trust, enable partner operational independence, and align African nations with U.S. strategic objectives. The International Military Education and Training (IMET) program and the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program (SPP) are key to cultivating enduring relationships and professionalizing African militaries. IMET has trained more than 125 Chiefs of Defense and Service Chiefs across Africa, including 11 current Chiefs of Defense and 21 Service Chiefs, instilling values such as transparency, civilian control of the military, and operational expertise.
Supporting these efforts, programs like Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Excess Defense Articles (EDA) equip African partners with tailored capabilities that enhance their effectiveness and foster economic ties. Together, these programs strengthen partnerships, promote stability, and advance U.S. strategic interests.
The SPP is one of the greatest strategic initiatives developed by the Department since the Cold War. This program produces significant benefits as it strengthens ties with African partners through consistent engagement in training, exchanges, and joint exercises, delivering disproportionate benefits from minimal resources. By fostering unique civil-military bonds and long-term relationships, the SPP showcases the United States as a reliable and enduring partner across 25 nations--an area where U.S. influence remains unmatched. The State Partnership Program creates valuable networks that, in some cases, bring together partners from different regions to share lessons learned and innovative solutions for common security challenges. To maximize its impact, we are expanding the SPP's integration into our operations, highlighting its successes, challenging adversarial narratives and showcasing the tangible benefits of U.S. engagement.
Resource Requirements
To effectively address the challenges in Africa, USAFRICOM requires capabilities and forces for flexible employment to meet crisis response timelines, stable funding for critical U.S. support, and dedicated ISR assets to locate and neutralize terrorist threats. Additionally, sustained support for experimentation and innovation is needed to enhance U.S. and partner readiness, along with funding for the SPP, to strengthen operations and activities across the continent.
Conclusion
Africa stands at a crossroads where terrorism, malign influence, and economic competition demand dedicated engagement. USAFRICOM addresses these challenges by leveraging U.S. strengths to protect the homeland, advance U.S. interests, and respond to crises.
Through traditional military operations and a focus on innovation, defense economics, and information operations, we amplify our impact and meet strategic objectives. However, resource constraints and competing priorities pose challenges. Africa requires alignment between directed outcomes and a small set of enabling capabilities. The men and women of USAFRICOM remain resolute in advancing U.S. interests while empowering African nations to secure their futures.
Through partnerships, investments, and a commitment to stability, they create conditions that reduce violent extremism and malign influence, ensuring Africa's potential benefits both the continent and the United States.
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Original text here: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/anderson_testimony3.pdf
State Department Legal Adviser Nominee Dahl Testifies Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee released the following testimony by Brock Dahl, President Trump's nominee to be the legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State, from a May 20, 2026, confirmation hearing:* * *
Chairman Risch, Ranking Member Shaheen, and distinguished Members of the committee. It is the privilege of a lifetime to appear today as the President's nominee to be the Legal Adviser to the Department of State. I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Rubio for their confidence in me.
I also just want to thank the family who has been so supportive ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee released the following testimony by Brock Dahl, President Trump's nominee to be the legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State, from a May 20, 2026, confirmation hearing: * * * Chairman Risch, Ranking Member Shaheen, and distinguished Members of the committee. It is the privilege of a lifetime to appear today as the President's nominee to be the Legal Adviser to the Department of State. I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Rubio for their confidence in me. I also just want to thank the family who has been so supportiveover my career, and who are here today, including my wife, Jessica and our three children, my mother and father, my twin brother, and my mother and father in-law. I also want to thank the team at the Department who has helped me prepare for this opportunity. The prospect of working with such superb and dedicated people has demonstrated a key facet of why this position is so desirable.
It is always inspiring to see the accomplishments of those who have preceded one in a role and distinctly humbling to recognize how the events they influenced ultimately shaped the contours of your own career. I came to Washington, D.C. from Kansas after high school, where both my wife and I were raised, wanting to pursue a career in the government. Interested in international relations, in early September 2001 I applied for a National Security Education Program scholarship to study Turkish in Istanbul, which itself entailed an obligation to work for the government. Little did any of us know how the events of that month would reshape our lives. In large part because of these experiences, I was eventually granted the chance to pursue a master's in Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern studies at Oxford.
It was because of these investments in my own development that I felt duty bound, when then asked to do so, to fill a role in the Treasury Attache's office at the US Embassy in Baghdad. I eventually returned to Treasury in DC and worked on the interagency group focused on Afghanistan before heading to law school. I share these experiences not to bore with a personal prehistory, but to highlight how my early career formed my impressions of peace and security, and the fundamental role of the rule of law, and credible institutions, in ensuring pathways to stable and prosperous coexistence.
What struck me then, and continues to ring true today, is the integral role of communal trust in the success of any public endeavor. A thriving society sits on a bulwark of predictable legal norms, and when it acts as a single community externally, it must do so with conviction and credibility. The Legal Adviser's office is core to those functions, and I am humbled by the chance to occupy a role that so manifestly embodies the hard lessons of a past not unique to me but shared by all of us in different ways.
The Legal Adviser's office accomplishes its functions across an array of complex and intersecting legal regimes. Paramount, of course, is the delivery of accurate and objective legal advice to the Department and the Secretary on all legal and legal policy issues arising in connection with U.S. foreign policy activities and the work of the Department more generally. It has a distinct role, moreover, within the federal government in advising on and articulating the meaning of international law. That law, the scope and contours of which are seemingly debated endlessly in the public square, is not just a set of rules in the sense that some may conceive of law, but a framework for communicating our principles, expectations, and aspirations to the global community. The Department, then, grants to the Legal Adviser, in supporting the Secretary, a legal mouthpiece for conveying our values abroad and engaging in dialogue about how those values interact with those of other nations.
My legal career, spanning both government and private practice, informs how I understand the obligations of the Legal Adviser's office, the breadth of the Department's functions, and the wide array of talents and skills that the office brings to bear in advising on those functions. I have spent years advising clients on a variety of crisis management, international transactional negotiations, litigation, regulatory compliance, internal governance, and operational strategy issues. That experience also provides signals on how the office can continue to engage effectively with various communities of interest: across the Executive Branch, with Congress, with the American public, and with the world community.
For all these reasons and more, I am incredibly grateful to be considered by this committee, and if confirmed, would be deeply honored to continue to serve. But for now, I recognize we have much to discuss and I look forward to that engagement.
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Original text here: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/5c243abf-c4cb-fd7e-7861-e3beed8b35fd/052026_Dahl_Testimony_4cddaa77-0de1-4764-8d22-1e4011aa6446.pdf
Representative Tran Announces Federal Emergency Declaration for Garden Grove Western Incident
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Rep. Derek Tran, D-California, issued the following news release:* * *
Representative Tran Announces Federal Emergency Declaration for Garden Grove Western Incident
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Garden Grove, CA - At Representative Derek Tran (CA-45)'s urging, President Trump has signed a request for a Federal Emergency Declaration submitted by the State of California in response to the ongoing toxic chemical incident, known as the "Western Incident," at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California.
"Over 50,000 of our neighbors have experienced unprecedented chaos and uncertainty over ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Rep. Derek Tran, D-California, issued the following news release: * * * Representative Tran Announces Federal Emergency Declaration for Garden Grove Western Incident * Garden Grove, CA - At Representative Derek Tran (CA-45)'s urging, President Trump has signed a request for a Federal Emergency Declaration submitted by the State of California in response to the ongoing toxic chemical incident, known as the "Western Incident," at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California. "Over 50,000 of our neighbors have experienced unprecedented chaos and uncertainty overthe last four days. I am grateful to our first responders for their tireless efforts to keep our community safe and mitigate this crisis," said Representative Tran. "I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Governor Newsom and Senators Padilla and Schiff for their steadfast commitment to securing every possible resource available to keep Orange County residents safe. A Federal Emergency Declaration will provide necessary additional support to protect public health, safeguard our environment, and defray the significant cost of this crisis."
Representative Tran, with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging approval of California's request for a Federal Emergency Declaration. Read the full letter HERE (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1szCB3HmYE4uhE-7XHWq2-CHs4JMq_Wyn/view?usp=sharing).
A Federal Emergency Declaration activates additional federal resources to support life-saving activities. These resources include coordination of federal agencies to supplement state and local efforts to ensure public health and environmental safety, and covering 75% of the cost of any federal resources used. Services provided by federal agencies may include air monitoring, plume modeling, environmental assessment, hazardous materials containment, and other public health measures as requested.
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Original text here: https://tran.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-tran-announces-federal-emergency-declaration-garden-grove
Pallone Statement on Delaney Hall Protests
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release:* * *
Pallone Statement on Delaney Hall Protests
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LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today issued the following statement on the ongoing protests by detainees at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey.
"I visited the men and women suffering in ICE detention at Delaney Hall earlier this year, and I was shocked by the conditions they told me they had to endure. I am disgusted that these conditions only continue to worsen for detainees," said Congressman ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: * * * Pallone Statement on Delaney Hall Protests * LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today issued the following statement on the ongoing protests by detainees at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. "I visited the men and women suffering in ICE detention at Delaney Hall earlier this year, and I was shocked by the conditions they told me they had to endure. I am disgusted that these conditions only continue to worsen for detainees," said CongressmanPallone.
"People are languishing without knowing if they'll have enough to eat or if they'll be able to receive medical care if they get sick. This is in addition to ICE's indiscriminate actions in our neighborhoods and communities. It's a cruel, coordinated campaign, and it's a disgrace.
"Delaney Hall cannot continue to generate profit on the back of horrendous human suffering. I stand firmly in support of the brave detainees inside the facility-and the protesters outside-who are standing up for what's right. I will continue to call for accountability and carry out oversight of this facility."
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Original text here: https://pallone.house.gov/media/press-releases/pallone-statement-delaney-hall-protests
Lujan, Boozman Champion Greater Access to Radiology Services
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release:* * *
Lujan, Boozman Champion Greater Access to Radiology Services
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Senators Seek Medicare Reimbursement Eligibility for Hospital Radiologist Assistant-Performed Medical Imaging
W ASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and John Boozman (R-AR) introduced legislation to improve Medicare beneficiaries' access to medical imaging services and address the provider shortage that exists nationwide, particularly in rural America. The Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA) would allow radiologists ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release: * * * Lujan, Boozman Champion Greater Access to Radiology Services * Senators Seek Medicare Reimbursement Eligibility for Hospital Radiologist Assistant-Performed Medical Imaging W ASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and John Boozman (R-AR) introduced legislation to improve Medicare beneficiaries' access to medical imaging services and address the provider shortage that exists nationwide, particularly in rural America. The Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA) would allow radiologiststo submit claims to Medicare for non-diagnostic services performed by radiologic assistants (RAs) they directly supervise in both the hospital and office settings.
While RAs are recognized under Medicare to perform services under direct supervision, the radiology practices that employ them are unable to submit claims to Medicare for RA-performed services in hospitals, where they most frequently work.
"Too many Medicare patients, especially in rural communities across New Mexico, are struggling to access timely care because of health care workforce shortages and unnecessary barriers," said Lujan. "Qualified RAs are already playing an important role in delivering care, and Medicare policy should reflect that. This legislation will help expand access to quality care, reduce strain on providers, and ensure more seniors get the care they need closer to home."
"Medicare patients need timely access to medical imaging, but current guidelines continue to limit providers' ability to utilize this important diagnostic tool. We can remedy that by ensuring radiologist assistants, who are well qualified to assist on diagnostic and therapeutic radiology procedures, have the same opportunity whether in a hospital or doctor's office. Updating the regulations to allow reimbursement in either setting is a commonsense solution that I am pleased has bipartisan support," Boozman said.
In 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services adjusted RA supervision requirements, which allowed providers to be reimbursed by Medicare for services performed by RAs in the office setting. However, the adjustment did not include reimbursement by Medicare for RA services performed in the hospital setting, creating a disparity that negatively impacts the radiology care available in hospitals. The bipartisan MARCA bill addresses that gap to restore access for patients in either setting and removes disincentives that jeopardize the ability of radiologists to meet demand for diagnosis and treatment.
Supporters of the legislation include the Arkansas Society of Radiologic Technologists, Arkansas Radiological Society, American College of Radiology, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, American Society of Radiologic Technologists, Society of Radiology Physician Extenders, Association for Medical Imaging Management and RAYUS Radiology.
Click here to view bill text.
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Original text here: https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lujan-boozman-champion-greater-access-to-radiology-services/
Lujan Statement on Voting Against Steve Pearce to Serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release:* * *
Lujan Statement on Voting Against Steve Pearce to Serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management
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Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after voting against the confirmation of Steve Pearce as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM):
"At a time when Republicans are rushing to sell off our public lands, they cannot be trusted to lead the Bureau of Land Management. While serving in Congress, Mr. Pearce opposed protections for the Organ ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release: * * * Lujan Statement on Voting Against Steve Pearce to Serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management * Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after voting against the confirmation of Steve Pearce as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM): "At a time when Republicans are rushing to sell off our public lands, they cannot be trusted to lead the Bureau of Land Management. While serving in Congress, Mr. Pearce opposed protections for the OrganMountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in his own district, a treasured New Mexico landscape. His record makes it clear that he will not stand up for our public lands.
"I voted against Mr. Pearce because his record speaks for itself. The Bureau of Land Management stewards 13 million acres across New Mexico that support our outdoor recreation economy, ranchers, Tribal communities, and local economies. New Mexico cannot afford a director who has spent his career working against them."
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Original text here: https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lujan-statement-on-voting-against-steve-pearce-to-serve-as-director-of-the-bureau-of-land-management/
Heinrich, Lujan Introduce Legislation to Improve New Mexicans' Access to Healthcare & Keep Rural Hospitals Open
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release:* * *
Heinrich, Lujan Introduce Legislation to Improve New Mexicans' Access to Healthcare & Keep Rural Hospitals Open
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U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) introduced the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation to improve New Mexicans' access to healthcare and keep rural hospitals open by extending the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) program for another five years.
Many small rural hospitals are too large to qualify ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release: * * * Heinrich, Lujan Introduce Legislation to Improve New Mexicans' Access to Healthcare & Keep Rural Hospitals Open * U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) introduced the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act, bipartisan legislation to improve New Mexicans' access to healthcare and keep rural hospitals open by extending the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) program for another five years. Many small rural hospitals are too large to qualifyfor Critical Access Hospital status, but still struggle to stay open under Medicare's current payment system. The Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program helps address this gap by allowing certain hospitals to receive payments that better reflect the cost of care. Since 2005, the program has supported 55 rural hospitals across the country, helping keep their doors open and providing valuable insight into how to strengthen rural healthcare.
New Mexico hospitals currently participating in the RCHD program include Roosevelt General Hospital and Artesia General Hospital. This legislation would provide these New Mexico hospitals with the opportunity to extend their participation, should they choose to remain in the RCHD program.
"Access to a nearby hospital in a rural community can make a life-or-death difference for folks needing emergency care in minutes, not hours. But that requires keeping rural hospitals open. Extending the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program is an important step toward making that happen," said Heinrich. " No one in New Mexico should have to travel hours to receive the care they need, whether they're in a moment of crisis, getting routine treatment, or welcoming the newest member of their family."
"Access to a nearby hospital is critical for people living in our rural communities throughout New Mexico. When emergencies happen, care close to home saves lives," said Lujan. "Right now, many rural hospitals in New Mexico are at risk of closing. Extending the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program is essential to helping keep those doors open and ensuring families can get the care they need. I'll keep fighting to protect health care access for every New Mexican and make sure it's never out of reach."
"I am so grateful to Senator Heinrich and Senator Lujan for supporting the continuation of CMS's Rural Hospital Demonstration program. This program is vital for rural community hospitals who don't qualify for Critical Access Hospital designation, which allows for higher, cost-based reimbursement for inpatient and swing bed care. These services are typically sources of financial loss for small hospitals due to low volume, but they are necessary to support our community. This program helps to ensure long term sustainability and availability of vital healthcare in rural communities, and we are very thankful for their support," said Kaye Green, CEO of Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, N.M.
The legislation is led by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). Alongside Heinrich and Lujan, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Angus King (I-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).
The full text of the legislation is here.
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Original text here: https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/heinrich-lujan-introduce-legislation-to-improve-new-mexicans-access-to-healthcare-keep-rural-hospitals-open/
GAO Director Khan Testifies Before House Oversight & Government Reform Subcommittee (Part 2 of 2)
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations released the following written testimony by Asif A. Khan, director of financial management and assurance at the Government Accountability Office, from a May 13, 2026, hearing entitled "DoW Financial Management: Examining Progress and New Audit Approaches." DoW is the U.S. Department of War.* * *
(Continued from Part 1 of 2)
As discussed earlier in this statement, DOD financial management has been on our High-Risk List since 1995. This list highlights programs and operations across the federal ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations released the following written testimony by Asif A. Khan, director of financial management and assurance at the Government Accountability Office, from a May 13, 2026, hearing entitled "DoW Financial Management: Examining Progress and New Audit Approaches." DoW is the U.S. Department of War. * * * (Continued from Part 1 of 2) As discussed earlier in this statement, DOD financial management has been on our High-Risk List since 1995. This list highlights programs and operations across the federalgovernment with serious vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that are in need of transformation. We have reported that while DOD continues to take positive steps, it has not yet received a clean audit opinion on its annual department-wide financial statements because it has been unable to accurately account for and report on its spending or physical assets.47 Figure 1 shows GAO's February 2025 ratings for the DOD financial management high-risk area.
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46 In doing so, DOD addressed a previous misstatement resulting from its omission of reporting financial activity for the accounts, which are Treasury accounts DOD personnel use to execute DOD's security assistance programs. See DOD, Department of Defense Agency Financial Report Fiscal Year 2025 and Department of Defense Agency Financial Report Fiscal Year 2024 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2024).
47 GAO-25-107743.
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Figure 1: DOD Financial Management High-Risk Area Rating as of February 2025
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As discussed in our February 2025 report, DOD leadership continued its commitment to financial management improvements by, for example, adhering to the agency's Financial Management Strategy, prioritizing audit remediation efforts, and continuing to phase out legacy systems while migrating to newer financial management systems.
However, we noted challenges DOD faces in managing its financial resources. For example, we found that DOD has not yet fully addressed key deficiencies we first identified in October 2020 pertaining to its corrective action plan process, such as ensuring the department performs and documents a root cause analysis. Under its planned revised approach, as noted, DOD plans to shift away from resolving every material weakness and NFR towards supporting material line items by focusing on validating account balances with supporting documentation.
In doing so, DOD has indicated that its traditional approach of relying on internal controls for long-term success will not work in time to achieve a clean audit opinion in FY 2028. Nevertheless, DOD's planned approach could continue to delay its development of root cause analyses and implementation of the corrective actions needed to achieve sound financial management practices and make progress on this high-risk area.
How will DOD's revised approach affect its efforts to manage fraud risks?
An important component of the financial management high-risk area is fraud risk. DOD's longstanding control weaknesses contribute to DOD's susceptibility to fraud. The scope and scale of DOD's financial activity make it inherently susceptible to fraud while the weak controls due to ineffective financial management processes and outdated financial systems make it easier for fraudsters to perpetrate fraud and conceal their fraudulent activities.
Among the agency-wide material weaknesses that the DOD OIG reported for FY 2025, access controls, segregation of duties, and accounts payable are examples of financial management weaknesses that also increase the risk of fraud, affecting DOD operations. Fraud risks in other areas of material weakness such as inventory and stockpile materials can affect warfighter readiness. For example, the DOD OIG reported that DOD could not substantiate the existence, completeness, and valuation of inventory and stockpile materials. Without the ability to confirm what inventory and stockpile materials it has--or should have--DOD is not in the position to readily detect if it had received such materials or if fraudsters had removed them from DOD possession.
In addition to these and other agency-wide material weaknesses the DOD OIG identified, we have also reported other challenges that could increase DOD's fraud risk. For example, DOD lacks data on the number of and collective functions that contractors are performing.48 This could allow for contractors to fraudulently bill or to not perform contracting functions.
While DOD has taken some actions to manage fraud risks, the lack of a robust fraud risk management program continues to pose challenges to the department's internal control environment and the revised actions on auditability.
In June 2025, DOD issued the Fraud Risk Management Strategy and Guidance, which outlines roles and responsibilities and identifies actions for fraud risk assessments and related activities. However, it is unclear whether the organizational structure outlined in this strategy provides the necessary authority to design, oversee, and compel fraud risk management action across the department, including on data analytics.
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48 GAO, DOD Financial Management: Action Needed to Enhance Workforce Planning, GAO-25-105286 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 10, 2024).
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Such leadership to drive strategic fraud risk management actions is essential for the department to safeguard its vast resources while also acknowledging that DOD's revised approach may pose additional fraud risks through pressure to cut corners or perverse incentives to comply with requirements to reach a clean audit opinion.
Both previously and under DOD's revised approach to auditability, fraud risk management has not been on equal footing with financial management in terms of leadership attention to compel action across the department. Singular focus on auditability could pull attention further away from fraud risk management at a time of heightened risk.
In addition to fraud risks that may be exacerbated by the pressures of the revised audit approach, DOD's increased budget also increases the risks for fraud. Significant funding increases from Public Law 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as a requested budget increase for fiscal year 2027 provide further opportunities for fraud while pressures to expend funds quickly further compound already heightened procurement-related fraud risks. Such a fraud risk environment in the context of financial management material weaknesses strains support for the warfighter and increased military action around the world.
How will DOD acquire and organize the resources needed for this approach to achieve a clean audit opinion by the end of 2028?
The Marine Corps' experience in working toward achieving a clean audit opinion suggests that DOD's revised approach will need substantial resources. As previously noted, in February 2026, for the third consecutive year, the FY 2025 audit of the Marine Corps general fund financial statements resulted in a clean audit opinion. We have reported that the Marine Corps was able to obtain and sustain a clean audit opinion in FY 2023 and FY 2024 largely through a substantive-based audit approach and manual effort.49 This resulted in an increase in detailed testing and required the Marine Corps to produce a large volume of information for auditors to test, which supported transactions, account balances, and other adjustments made while preparing financial statements. Specifically, the Marine Corps' auditor noted that its substantive approach included more than 70 site visits. Additionally, auditors tested approximately 26 million assets, including extensive physical counts of military equipment, ammunition, and other property to obtain adequate audit evidence to support a clean opinion.
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49 GAO-25-107427.
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As stated, DOD intends to centralize the coordination of its audit plan and rely on existing controls and systems to the extent feasible. DOD also plans to use tools such as artificial intelligence to, for example, identify discrepancies and use substantive testing where necessary to validate balances. However, this revised approach places DOD and its auditors at risk of not being able to effectively scale and organize their resources to undergo substantive testing where necessary across the department. A key challenge facing the department is its size. According to Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) officials, the Marine Corps accounted for just over 1 percent of DOD's total assets as of September 30, 2025. Additionally, high volumes of transactions for the Army, Navy, and Air Force could make it difficult to test transaction details and account balances at such a large scale. As a result, auditors risk not having sufficient trained financial management resources and not being able to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence by testing assets and transactions when they are relying more on substantive procedures.
How will DOD ensure sustainability in its revised approach, including through remediation of internal control deficiencies, once it achieves a clean audit opinion?
We have previously noted that addressing financial statement audit findings has inherent benefits, including helping to identify vulnerabilities, improving operations and visibility over assets, producing cost savings, and enhancing DOD's overall operational readiness and support for the warfighter. As such, it will be important for DOD to ensure the sustainability of its audit opinion through continued remediation efforts after it initially achieves a clean audit. Both the resources needed to sustain the opinion and the department's ability to address its underlying internal control deficiencies will affect its sustainability. For example, in August 2024, the DOD OIG noted that longstanding IT challenges remain.
These challenges prevent DOD from implementing efficient and effective financial management. They also inhibit progress toward receiving a clean audit opinion and implementing sustainable processes with effective internal controls.50
As it worked toward its first clean audit opinion, the Marine Corps underwent a single 2-year audit for its FY 2023 financial statements.
According to DOD, this approach allowed the Marine Corps to invest significantly more time in executing corrective actions to address errors and inaccuracies in its financial data and records to allow the auditor to test transactions and balances. Nevertheless, this substantive audit approach was labor intensive for both the auditor and the Marine Corps, because the auditors were unable to rely on the Marine Corps' internal controls over financial reporting. As previously noted, it is unclear whether or how successfully larger DOD entities could complete a successful financial audit while relying less on internal controls.
In addition, as noted, although the Marine Corps has achieved a clean audit opinion for three consecutive years, its auditors continue to report that the Marine Corps needs to address seven material weaknesses.
These include three material weaknesses associated with its IT systems.
It is important for the Marine Corps to address these material weaknesses to continue improving its financial management and operations.
According to DOD officials, FY 2026 is the beginning of a planned two-year cycle of regular auditor feedback and DOD remediation toward the department's goal of a clean audit opinion on the new DOD-wide Working Capital Fund in FY 2027. Officials stated that this serves as a test run in advance of the department's goal to achieve a clean audit opinion on its DOD-wide financial statements in FY 2028. Nevertheless, DOD's planned approach presents the possible tradeoff that while the department works toward this goal, its efforts to implement sustainable processes with effective internal controls will be limited.
Like the Marine Corps, even after achieving a clean audit opinion, it will be important for DOD to continue taking steps to sustain a clean opinion and continue improving its financial management environment. However, without a demonstrated commitment to improving its internal controls and processes, DOD may be limited in its ability to realize important operational and other benefits.
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50 Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Understanding the Results of the Audit of the FY 2023 DOD Financial Statements (Alexandria, Va.: Aug. 8, 2024).
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DOD has acknowledged that achieving a clean audit opinion takes time, but also that a traditional approach of relying on internal controls for longterm success will not work in time to achieve a clean audit opinion by the end of 2028. Its proposed solution is one that, to DOD's credit, could enable the department to achieve a significant milestone in its first clean audit opinion. However, the path to a clean audit opinion is likely to be labor and resource intensive for both the department and its auditors.
This sets the stage for a sizable department-wide effort and potentially sizable associated risks if DOD is unable to leverage it to achieve its goal of a clean opinion.
In addition, as noted earlier, the President has requested about $1.5 trillion for DOD in FY 2027, a 44 percent single-year budget increase.
DOD also expects to spend $1.7 billion in support of the department's audit during FY 2027. The potential for rapid spending of these additional resources could stress already weak controls department-wide and exacerbate risks.
Addressing the previously noted questions is critical for producing reliable, useful, and timely financial information for decision making.
Additionally, continuing remediation efforts can help increase the likelihood of DOD's success in the short term and financial management sustainability in the long term while further assuring the public and Congress that DOD is an effective steward of taxpayer dollars. In addition, better oversight over the department's resources could help it identify additional resources to address critical issues such as unfunded priorities.51 We will continue to monitor the progress of DOD's financial management improvement efforts.
Chairman Sessions, Ranking Member Mfume, and Members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have.
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51 GAO, Defense Budget: DOD Should Address All Statutory Elements for Unfunded Priorities, GAO-25-107581 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 4, 2025).
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Appendix I: DOD Financial Management Scorecard
The Department of Defense (DOD) Financial Management Scorecard identifies grades for DOD's efforts to improve financial and fraud risk management during fiscal year 2025. The Subcommittee on Government Operations, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, developed the scorecard with the assistance of GAO staff based on information that DOD and the DOD Office of Inspector General provided to GAO and publicly available DOD and DOD Office of Inspector General information.
In May 2026, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) officials stated that the scorecard reflects legacy processes and does not reflect the department's current priorities for achieving a clean audit opinion. This testimony statement discusses DOD's revised approach to achieving a clean audit opinion.
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Table 1: Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 DOD Financial Management Scorecard
Source: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps FY 2025 Agency Financial Reports and analysis of DOD information. | GAO-26-109115
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a This FY 2025 scorecard does not include a balance sheet auditability indicator or score. In April 2026, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) officials stated that the Office of the Deputy Chief Financial Officer no longer applies the weighting and scoring methodology previously used to rank the auditability of DOD components, which included balance sheet auditability. As a result, the FY 2025 scorecard applies the additional 10% that was previously applied to balance sheet auditability to audit results.
b Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps grades are based on February 2026 data from the DOD OIG Component Notice of Finding and Recommendation count.
c The Marine Corps grade reflects the Department of the Navy's Financial Management Strategic Plan.
d The Marine Corps grade reflects the Department of the Navy's guidance for initial approval and annual certification of business and financial systems.
e Grade is based on self-reported DOD data about systems relevant to internal controls over financial reporting.
f Financial management requirements refer to the extent to which auditors report systems substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements, applicable federal accounting standards, and the United States Standard General Ledger at the transaction level.
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Table 2: DOD Financial Management Scorecard Scoring Methodology
Each entity was assigned an A-F grade for each indicator.
Category ... Weight ... Scoring Methodology
Financial statement reliability: Audit results ... 20% ... For all entities, the scoring methodology considers the annual financial statement audit results. Audit outcomes are converted to a letter grade using the following methodology: A = unmodified audit opinion with no material weaknesses and no instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations; B = unmodified audit opinion with material weaknesses and/or instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations; C = qualified audit opinion; D = disclaimer of opinion; and F = audit not conducted. Source: Military service agency financial reports.
Progress: NFR closure rate ... 20% ... For all entities, the scoring methodology considers the total count of notice of findings and recommendations (NFRs) from FY 2024 closed during the FY 2025 audit for both IT and financial NFRs. Closure percentages are converted to a letter grade using the following methodology: A = 80% and above; B = 70%-79%; C = 60-69%; D = 50-59%; F = 49% or less. Source: DOD Office of Inspector General component NFR count as of February 26, 2026.
Material weakness ... 20% ... For all entities, the scoring methodology considers the downgrade and/or the remediation of FY 2024 material weaknesses during the FY 2025 audit. A = 80% and above; B = 70%-79%; C = 6069%; D = 50-59%; F = 49% or less. Source: Military service agency financial reports.
Planning ... 10% ... For all entities, the scoring methodology considers the contents of each entity's financial management strategic plans. A baseline of 50 is awarded if the entity has a strategic plan, with additional points awarded if the plan and supporting documentation contain goals and objectives and examples of associated metrics, targets, and measures. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%; C = 70-79%, D= 60-69%, F= 59% or below. The Navy and Marine Corps grades are the same because both entities fall under the Department of the Navy financial management strategic plan.
Oversight ... 10% ... For all entities, the scoring methodology considers the contents of each entity's financial systems compliance guidance, based on the status of recommendations from GAO-23-104539. For the military services, a baseline of 50 is awarded if the entity has guidance, with additional points awarded if the guidance discusses the legislative requirements described in 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2222. The Navy and Marine Corps grades are the same because both entities follow guidance issued by the Department of the Navy. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%, C = 70%-79%, D = 60%-69%, F = 59% or below. No entity can receive higher than a B until the Department of Defense issues updated DOD level guidance that fully addresses the outstanding recommendations from GAO-23-104539 and updates its business enterprise architecture.
Financial systems: Aging systems ... 10% ... Each entity is assigned a grade based on the percentage of its existing systems that are less than 30 years old. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%, C = 70%-79%, D = 60%-69%, F = 59% or below. In addition, the score considers changes in the total number of existing systems and changes in the ages of systems from year to year. Source: DOD provided data associated with systems relevant to the financial audit.
System compliance with financial management requirements ... 10% ... Each entity is assigned a grade based on the extent to which their agency financial reports state that their systems are substantially compliant with the three elements required by Section 803(a) of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. A baseline of 40 points is awarded if the entity has reported its compliance and 20 additional points awarded if the entity's auditor reported compliance with each of the three elements. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%, C = 70%-79%, D = 60%-69%, F = 59% or below. Source: Military service agency financial reports.
Overall grade ... The overall letter grade for each entity is calculated using a weighted average of the above grades. Individual scores are initially assigned letter grades as described above. To assign overall grades, the letter grades are assigned numerical grades using the following methodology: A = 95; B = 85; C = 75; D = 65; and F = 55. The weighted average of these numerical grades are then used to develop the final overall letter grades.
Source: Analysis of DOD information. | GAO-26-109115
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Table 3: FY 2025 DOD Financial Management Scorecard
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The categories outlined below in Table 4 are drawn from the GAO Fraud Risk Framework and align with the Framework's four components and associated leading practices.
1. Commit to combating fraud by creating an organizational culture and structure conducive to fraud risk management (Commit)
2. Plan regular fraud risk assessments and assess risks to determine a fraud risk profile (Assess)
3. Design and implement a strategy with specific control activities to mitigate assessed fraud risks and collaborate to help ensure effective implementation (Design and Implement)
4. Evaluate outcomes using a risk-based approach and adapt activities to improve fraud risk management (Evaluate and Adapt)
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Table 4: FY 2025 DOD Financial Management Scorecard
Fraud Risk Management Component Scoring Methodology
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DOD as an entity was assigned an A-F grade for each indicator.
Category ... Weight ... Scoring Methodology
Commit ... 1/3 ... The scoring methodology considers the actions of DOD leadership and DOD's dedicated fraud risk management entity. A baseline of 50 is awarded if the component has a dedicated fraud risk management entity, with additional points awarded if the entity has defined responsibilities and the necessary authority to carry out fraud risk management activities, as well as if senior-level leadership demonstrates commitment to combating fraud and involves all levels of the agency in setting an antifraud tone, in alignment with GAO's Fraud Risk Framework. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%, D=60%-69%, F=59% or below.
Assess ... 1/3 ... The scoring methodology considers the presence and quality of DOD's fraud risk assessments and profiles. A baseline of 25 each is awarded if fraud risk assessments are conducted and fraud risk profiles are developed, respectively, with additional points awarded for higher quality assessments and profiles that align with GAO's Fraud Risk Framework. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%, D=60%-69%, F=59% or below.
Design and Implement ... 1/3 ... The scoring methodology considers the contents of DOD's antifraud strategy, the execution of its plan, and its collaboration with relevant stakeholders. A baseline of 25 is awarded if there is a developed and documented antifraud strategy (or strategies), grounded in a fraud risk assessment, with another 25 awarded if specific control practices have been designed and implemented to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud. Additional points are awarded for highquality practices that align with GAO's Fraud Risk Framework and for collaboration with internal and external stakeholders to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%, D=60%-69%, F=59% or below.
Evaluate and Adapt ... -a ... The scoring methodology considers how well DOD monitors and evaluates outcomes of its fraud risk management efforts and adapts as needed. A baseline of 25 is awarded if qualitative or quantitative data related to fraud risk management activities are collected where available, with another 25 points awarded if fraud risk management activities are adapted based on data evaluation. In the absence of sufficient data, points are awarded based on how well recommended leading practices for designing fraud risk management activities are followed. Additional points are awarded for high-quality practices that align with GAO's Fraud Risk Framework and for communication of results to stakeholders. A = 90% or greater, B = 80%-89%; C = 70%-79%, D=60%-69%, F=59% or below.
Overall grade ... The overall letter grade is calculated using an average of the above grades. Individual scores are initially assigned letter grades as described above. To assign the overall grade, the letter grades are assigned numerical grades using the following methodology: A = 95; B = 85; C = 75; D = 65; and F = 55. The average of these numerical grades is then used to develop the final overall letter grade.
Source: Analysis of Fraud Risk Framework and DOD information. | GAO-26-109115
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a DOD has not yet significantly engaged in fraud risk management monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation activities. This component will be scored when DOD begins to significantly execute these activities. Weights for all components will then become 25% each.
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Original text, figure and tables here: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Khan-Written-Testimony.pdf
DOE Secretary Wright, NNSA Administrator Williams, Assistant Secretary of Energy Walsh Testify Before Senate Armed Services Committee
WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Armed Services Committee released the following joint testimony by Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, National Nuclear Security Administrator Brandon Williams, and Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Timothy J. Walsh, from a May 13, 2026, hearing on the fiscal 2027 budget request:* * *
Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear before you and this Committee today as the Secretary of Energy to discuss the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget Request for the Department of Energy ("the Department" ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 25 -- The Senate Armed Services Committee released the following joint testimony by Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, National Nuclear Security Administrator Brandon Williams, and Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Timothy J. Walsh, from a May 13, 2026, hearing on the fiscal 2027 budget request: * * * Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear before you and this Committee today as the Secretary of Energy to discuss the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget Request for the Department of Energy ("the Department"or "DOE").
National security and supporting the President's Peace Through Strength Agenda remains a top priority of the FY 2027 Budget. The Budget supports a safe, secure, and effective nuclear stockpile and makes necessary investments to reduce global nuclear threats, provide safe and effective integrated nuclear propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy, and modernize the Nuclear Security Enterprise. The Budget provides a historic investment of $32.80 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to modernize the Nation's nuclear deterrent and protect the American people. This includes $27.44 billion for maintaining the nuclear stockpile, modernizing warheads and production facilities, improving scientific tools, and renewing essential infrastructure to sustain deterrence. The Budget Request also provides funding to address nuclear threats by denying adversary access to weapons-usable material, technology, and expertise; detecting nuclear proliferation and breakouts; and defeating efforts by adversaries to attack or threaten the U.S.homeland with the world's most dangerous weapons. The Budget allocates $2.39 billion to DOE's Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program to design and build safe reactors for submarines and aircraft carriers, modernize infrastructure, conduct research, and maintain technological superiority.
The Administration maintains a strong commitment to clean up and protect communities that won us World War II and kept Americans safe in subsequent years. The FY 2027 Budget includes $8.18 billion for the Environmental Management (EM) program, including $2.95 billion to continue cleanup progress at the Hanford site. EM activities include treating radioactive tank waste, dismantling contaminated sites, disposing of legacy waste, and cleaning soil and groundwater across DOE's nuclear sites. As the largest environmental cleanup program in the world, EM plays a key role in sustaining national security priorities through investments in new cleanup and remediation technologies, while supporting the communities where it operates.
The Budget also includes $200 million for the Office of Legacy Management to provide long-term management solutions at over 100 World War II and Cold War era sites in communities across the Nation where the federal government operated, researched, produced, and tested nuclear weapons and/or conducted scientific and engineering research.
DOE's FY 2027 Budget demonstrates fiscal discipline and a commitment to an efficient and effective Federal government while advancing Presidential priorities which will provide for America's future. The Budget will allow the Department to continue delivering on promises to unleash a golden era of American energy dominance, focus on scientific advancements that benefit the country, and protect the Nation. This budget is about unleashing American energy dominance.
It's about powering our homes, our businesses, and our future with reliable sources that provide more energy, not less. It's about the steadfast reliability of nuclear, the abundant potential of hydrocarbons, and the untapped power of geothermal. It's about a golden age of scientific discovery through investments in the new Genesis Mission and fusion, and the Budget delivers on the President's call for Peace Through Strength by making historic investments in the Nation's nuclear security programs and investing in cybersecurity. DOE is uniquely prepared to continue and expand on this urgent work.
FY 2027 President's Budget Request
The Department of Energy's Fiscal Year 2027 discretionary Budget Request provides $53.91 billion in budget authority, delivering results for the American people in a fiscally responsible way.
UNLEASHING THE GOLDEN ERA OF AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE
DOE remains committed to common sense energy policies that unleash America's energydominance, in alignment with the President's agenda. The Department continues to be focused on turning our Nation's abundance of resources into affordable, reliable, and secure energy for all Americans.
The backbone of a strong energy economy is a secure, modernized, robust grid that reliably delivers an abundance of affordable energy. The Budget provides $3.5 billion to support activities that will rapidly generate and transmit additional baseload power. This new initiative will support upgrades for coal, natural gas plants, and nuclear equipment. The initiative also supports reconductoring of existing transmission lines, uprating hydropower projects, and creating new geothermal capacity. The FY 2027 Budget also provides $203 million for the Office of Electricity, and $200 million of credit subsidy within the Office of Energy Dominance Financing that can support the financing of eligible baseload power projects.
DOE's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) plays a critical role in strengthening the security and resilience of the U.S. energy grid and securing U.S.energy infrastructure from cyber threats. A DOE Report on Evaluating U.S. Grid Reliability and Security released in July 2025 showed the U.S. energy grid is experiencing increased strain due to planned retirements of existing generation, coupled with increases in electricity demand driven by data centers and advanced manufacturing. The Budget provides $160 million for CESER to enhance the security of energy infrastructure and its supply chain, while deploying experts to respond to energy crises.
The FY 2027 Budget invests $1.12 billion for the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI), which includes the majority of the $394 million in targeted spending for critical minerals production and processing pilot scale demonstrations that, when commercialized, would work to secure supply chains that are vulnerable to coercion by foreign adversaries. CMEI's mission secures critical mineral supply chains, ensures secure and reliable energy innovation and technology systems, and manages programs that enhance energy affordability and consumer choice.
The FY 2027 Budget provides $676 million for the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) to enhance reliable baseload power, strengthen grid reliability, and improve long term energy security for communities nationwide by leveraging America's oil, natural gas, coal and geothermal energy resources. The Budget also includes $312 million for the Office of Petroleum Reserves managed under HGEO, further protecting the U.S. economy from disruptions in critical petroleum supplies and revitalizing this national asset.
Finally, to support the key role that nuclear energy plays in meeting the President's energy agenda, the FY 2027 Budget includes $1.53 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) to support the safe expansion of nuclear energy programs. This includes $226 million for the Advanced Reactors Demonstration Program to expedite the development, demonstration, and deployment of commercial nuclear reactor technologies. Supporting this keystone of the President's energy agenda is the Genesis mission which will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) with the aim to dramatically speed up the deployment of next-generation nuclear power to cut nuclear reactor development timelines in half and reduce operational costs by 50%, helping spark a renaissance in American nuclear energy.
ACCELERATING SCIENTIFIC CAPABILITIES
To secure America's long-term economic strength, technological leadership, and national security, America must lead in AI. The DOE's Genesis Mission will integrate the full power of our 17 National Laboratories, scientific user facilities, industrial innovators, and the academic communities to strengthen America's technological leadership and global competitiveness. FY 2027 investments in scientific discovery will continue to build on the Administration's priority to improve our Nation's economy, national security, energy solutions, and overall quality of life. The Budget funds $8.3 billion for science programs, including $1.2 billion in funding specifically for the Genesis Mission and $7.14 billion for the Office of Science (SC) to support cutting-edge basic research in the physical sciences. These investments emphasize advancements in AI, quantum information science, fusion energy, high performance computing, and critical minerals and materials, in alignment with Executive Orders and the President's agenda. The Department further requests $10 million for the Office of Fusion to coordinate DOE's activities in advancing fusion energy.
NNSA's Fiscal Year 2027 Overview
Today, the NNSA role in America's national security is greater than at any point since the Manhattan Project, while the challenges we face from our adversaries are more intense than at any point since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In today's unprecedented security environment, NNSA's foremost priority is to modernize America's strategic deterrent, ensuring a comprehensive suite of capabilities at the President's disposal to address a complex and overlapping range of threats. NNSA is committed to delivering advanced weapon systems to the warfighter that deter adversaries from challenging U.S. resolve while reassuring our allies of America's atomic strength. NNSA is now acting with the urgency this moment demands, advancing initiatives that accelerate delivery timelines, managing cost and schedules across all major projects to maximize taxpayer value, and upholding peace through atomic strength.
NNSA is equally committed to enhancing its nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism capabilities. Too often, these missions are presented as competing with deterrence objectives, but this could not be further from the truth. By reducing stockpiles of weapons-usable nuclear material around the globe, preventing malicious actors from accessing nuclear and radioactive materials or expertise, and successfully preventing the use of a crude nuclear or radiological device, NNSA directly reinforces deterrence. In an era of growing demand for nuclear power and technology, these capabilities must be strengthened in a way that supports a global civil nuclear renaissance led by American technology, security, and safeguards.
Finally, NNSA's naval nuclear propulsion mission is essential to ensuring the U.S. Navy is an unmatched fighting force capable of projecting American power across the world's oceans; delivering American military might wherever it is needed and safeguarding the assured second-strike capability of the nuclear triad. NNSA will deliver Columbia-class propulsion plants to the Navy and cultivate the next generation of naval propulsion technology to sustain and strengthen these advantages.
NNSA will no longer be defined solely as a scientific stewardship organization, but an organization focused on weapons production - on delivering real capabilities, at speed, to meet current and future Department of War (DoW) requirements. NNSA is fully committed to the rapid, simultaneous modernization of all three legs of the nuclear triad, and NNSA is delivering quickly.
In 2025, NNSA reached multiple milestones that attest to faster weapons delivery, at scale. In May, NNSA achieved the First Production Unit (FPU) for the B61-13 almost a year ahead of schedule.
The B61-13 strengthens deterrence and assurance by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets. In September, the W80-4 Life Extension Program achieved FPU for its canned subassembly 18 months ahead of schedule.
Production for the full warhead remains on schedule for FPU in 2027. Finally, NNSA reached the Last Production Unit for the W88 Alt 370 program in December, providing key upgrades to the long-serving W88 onboard the ballistic missile submarine force.
Looking ahead, NNSA is continuing development of the W80-5 for the future Nuclear Armed SeaLaunched Cruise Missile. The W87-1 Modification program remains on track for FPU in the early 2030s, and the W93 is on course for production starting in the mid-2030s. While NNSA aggressively pursues modernization, it will continue maintenance of the current stockpile.
Underpinning NNSA's ability to deliver weapons on time and at scale is NNSA's production enterprise. A clear-eyed honest, assessment shows that the current structure of NNSA's production enterprise lacks both the capability and capacity to meet expanded mission needs on the timeline required. Decades of underinvestment in production facilities following the Cold War have resulted in the degradation and loss of critical capabilities. Contributing to the current situation, many of NNSA's unique, large-scale projects have suffered embarrassing schedule delays and cost overruns.
NNSA is committed to establishing a two-site plutonium pit production capability at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Savannah River Site (SRS). This dual-site approach is vital for national security and strengthening the nuclear industrial base, creating highly skilled American jobs and reducing reliance on single points of failure.
The Department and NNSA are pleased to report that significant progress has been made in both the production of pits and equipment installation at LANL over the last year, but more focused and dramatic actions are still necessary to improve production rates and capacity. Efforts are already underway, including expanding LANL's pit production capability to produce at least 100 pits by the end of calendar year 2028, while simultaneously expediting the completion of the Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Production Project to reach 30 pits per year (ppy) rate production and double the target production capacity at LANL to beyond 60ppy. NNSA is also positioning the SRS to facilitate this expanded pit production at LANL in the near term, while the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility continues to progress.
Alongside pit production, modernizing capabilities to produce or process strategic materials such as uranium, lithium, and tritium is of critical importance for the maintenance of the current stockpile and future modernization efforts.
Current uranium processing is carried out in Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), a Manhattan Project-era facility well past its design life. NNSA is replacing this structure with the modern Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). The construction of UPF is now more than 79% complete. NNSA anticipates construction to be finished in 2027 and now expects an accelerated timeline for full operations at the facility compared to the revised baseline established in 2024. NNSA is working closely with its Management and Operating Contractor partners to enact ways to expedite uranium casting at UPF with validated ability to scale output in response to mission demand on an accelerated timeline.
Y-12 has a long history of successfully delivering quality lithium products for the stockpile each year. However, these processes still occur in Manhattan Project-era facilities that pose operational and worker safety risks. Following unacceptable cost and schedule growth identified in the Lithium Processing Facility (LPF) project in FY 2025, NNSA will re-design LPF to focus on more costeffective and timely solutions to meet mission needs. In March, NNSA issued a Request for Information to a select group of vendors, soliciting industry expertise on the re-design of proposed LPF capabilities as multiple real estate projects on the currently planned LPF footprint at Y-12.
The responses will inform NNSA's planned acquisition of the re-designed LPF. This change is key to demonstrating NNSA's ability to deliver big projects affordably to the American taxpayer and to meet the needs of our national security.
Tritium gas decays over time and must be continually replenished in active warheads to maintain stockpile effectiveness. NNSA's tritium mission, principally at SRS, has been a tremendous success, a testament to what our workforce can achieve when production is allowed to continue uninterrupted. NNSA recently completed a record 13 tritium extractions in a 9-month period, significantly beating the previous record of 8 extractions in a 12-month period. As a result of cooperation between NNSA, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NNSA has increased tritium production from 223 grams in 2007 to 3,300 grams in 2025 and expects the next yield will be higher still. This enhanced production capacity will give NNSA flexibility to field any configuration of the stockpile our security demands.
NNSA is also constructing the Tritium Finishing Facility at SRS to replace key capabilities. Once complete, TFF will support safe, reliable, and operationally efficient capabilities for decades to come. NNSA appreciates the support from Congress and will work towards a realistic schedule for commencing TFF operations while simultaneously managing investments in the current building to meet deliverables.
NNSA's unmatched scientific capabilities provide the foundation for science-based stockpile decisions; delivers advanced capabilities to support DoW requirements; and innovates across the enterprise to improve productivity, efficiency, and responsiveness. This mission has been a tremendous success and is the modern foundation of our nuclear deterrence. Generations of exceptional scientific talent paired with world-class capabilities have advanced insights into the nuclear stockpile-- including weapons performance, plutonium aging, and component certification-- providing an unmatched understanding that strengthens strategic deterrence.
To ensure the President has flexible nuclear options in every conceivable conflict scenario, NNSA is designing novel and advanced capabilities on accelerated timelines. NNSA's Rapid and Advanced Capabilities program is collaborating with the DoW to conduct several Concept Assessments of novel weapon systems through the Nuclear Weapon Council's joint warhead acquisition process, including an effort to improve hard and deeply buried target defeat options.
NNSA stood up the Nuclear Deterrence Rapid Capabilities Team under this program in 2025 to meet emerging deterrence needs that require solutions on a faster timescale than traditional warhead acquisition. Under this model NNSA intends to demonstrate novel systems within two years and to deliver a fieldable capability to DoW within another two years through the Stockpile Management program as authorized by Congress.
NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing program provides unprecedented modeling and simulations that are essential for designing and certifying the nuclear stockpile along with support for NNSA's nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism mission. At the center of the program are the supercomputers, principally El Capitan, NNSA's first exascale supercomputer, which was recertified last year as the world's fastest with a peak performance ability to perform 1.8 quintillion calculations per second. NNSA will use its computing power to take advantage of DOE's world leading Genesis Mission, which unites three things America does better than anyone else: AI, advanced computing, and innovation, into a collaborative effort across government, industry, and academia to usher in a new golden age of scientific discovery. NNSA will invest in mission-enabling projects that are tailored to solve mission-specific challenges faster and with less power consumption than traditional computers to ultimately speed discovery, optimization, and manufacture of new materials and weapons designs.
America's nuclear arsenal is designed to survive the most extreme environments imaginable, and some of those environments are created in NNSA's Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, which allows experimentation at extreme temperatures and pressures characteristic of nuclear weapons explosions to support the design, certification, and assessment of the nuclear stockpile.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) remains the only location on earth capable of achieving fusion ignition. Last April, NIF set new records for both energy yield and target gain, achieving 8.6 megajoules of energy from 2.08 megajoules of energy to the target. In FY 2027, ICF will continue to mature technologies to reach higher fusion yields to answer key stockpile questions, including through partnerships with private fusion energy companies when appropriate. ICF will also continue the conceptual design of the Enhanced Yield Capability project to upgrade NIF to achieve higher fusion yields.
NNSA also maintains exceptional nonproliferation, counterproliferation, counterterrorism, and emergency response capabilities. This portfolio is America's shield against nuclear and radiological attack. NNSA stops threats before they reach the U.S. Homeland through a multilayered defense, based on denying, detecting, and defeating nuclear and radiological threats. In executing this mission, the same portfolio also advances American energy dominance and helps implement President Trump's May 2025 executive orders on nuclear energy.
NNSA denies terrorists and adversary state actors the materials needed to produce a nuclear weapon by minimizing the need for and presence of weapons-usable nuclear material around the world. This allows key research and business activities to continue while eliminating proliferation risks. Through its efforts, NNSA has removed or confirmed the disposition of 7,347 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium, the equivalent of several hundred nuclear weapons.
NNSA has also converted from HEU to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), or verified as shut down, 111 research reactors and medical isotope production facilities. The most recent conversion was carried out in collaboration with Japan in December 2025.
NNSA is also working with the DOE-NE to unleash energy dominance and implement the President's executive orders on nuclear energy. Last year, NNSA produced over 300kg of HALEU oxide, which DOE-NE is using to support advanced reactor demonstration projects and the DOE Reactor Pilot Program. Last August, NNSA increased their HALEU commitment to DOE-NE by five metric tons, almost doubling the previous commitment of 6.7 metric tons.
NNSA also partners with U.S. industry to advance competitiveness, prosperity, and security. The program currently has helped ten domestic advanced reactor vendors on security-by-design to increase the competitiveness and exportability to American nuclear technology.
The program also supports the development of groundbreaking technologies to replace radioactive materials with alternative technologies. This includes a congressional mandate to eliminate all cesium-137 blood irradiators in the United States by the end of 2027. To date, 94% of these irradiators have been removed by NNSA or are under contract for removal. In 2025, NNSA removed the final irradiators from Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
NNSA also engages with foreign partners to enable them to use U.S.-manufactured radiation detection systems to conduct their own counter nuclear smuggling operations. These efforts have resulted in the interdiction of dozens of radioactive sources and hundreds of kilograms of nuclear material.
NNSA also supports America's nuclear industry while advancing U.S. nonproliferation, monitoring and verification, and export objectives. It advances American leadership at the International Atomic Energy Agency, engages with American industry to incorporate safeguards by design, and ensures partner countries implement international safeguards obligations. NNSA the expansion of U.S. nuclear exports by implementing the 10 CFR Part 810 nuclear export control process and by providing technical assistance to the Department of State on the negotiation and implementation of agreements for peaceful nuclear cooperation (123 Agreements). These agreements open up new markets for American companies while securing commitments from foreign partners to adhere to U.S. nonproliferation standards. Most recently, NNSA played a key role in the negotiation of the 123 Agreement between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. NNSA is ready to lend its expertise in implementing the President's Executive Order requirement for an additional 20 agreements to be in place or under negotiation by the close of the 120th Congress.
NNSA's Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation Program (CTCP) counters nuclear terrorism and proliferation and responds to any nuclear or radiological threat, incident, or accident worldwide. CTCP serves as the technical foundation of deterrence by attribution and denial and is the Nation's last line of defense against radiological and nuclear emergencies. CTCP is working rapidly to operate effectively in a less stable international security environment with lower barriers to nuclear material and expertise acquisition.
To effectively respond to nuclear emergencies at home and abroad, CTCP is responsible for the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST). NEST maintains a vast array of capabilities to detect, assess, defeat, and attribute the origins of interdicted nuclear materials, improvised nuclear devices, or nuclear device detonations; safely resolve accidents involving a U.S. nuclear weapon; and mitigate any impacts to public health and safety during a radiological or nuclear emergency. NEST executed 80 unclassified emergency response operations in 2025 and safeguarded some of the nation's most important events including the presidential inauguration and Army 250th celebrations in Washington, DC; New Year's Eve in New York City; and Super Bowl LX in San Francisco.
This summer, NEST will execute its most complex security operation to secure the 104 World Cup games occurring across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
NNSA's Naval Reactors program supports NNSA's close partnership with the U.S. Navy in support of the nuclear fleet. Naval Reactors advances naval nuclear propulsion capabilities for America's attack and ballistic missile submarines and aircraft carriers to keep the Navy on the cutting edge of warfighting and maintain the assured second-strike capability of the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad.
Naval Reactors continues to deliver key reactor and propulsion plant components to support construction of the USS District of Columbia. The reactor core was certified for use in FY 2025 and will be installed in the submarine this year. Reactor plant components for the next several submarines are in manufacturing and are on pace to support construction timelines. Additionally, progress continues at the Spent Fuel Handling Recapitalization Project, including the start of steel erection for the north half of the Main Process Building and delivery of major equipment for transferring spent nuclear fuel into pools.
Environmental Management Mission
The planned activities in EM reflect the Department's strong commitment to putting human health and the environment first and cleaning up legacy nuclear national security sites dating back to the Manhattan Project Era that allowed the United States to win World War II and the Cold War.
As we deliver on this mission to clean up the legacy of past defense and nuclear research programs we are: 1) powering America's future with affordable, reliable, and secure energy; 2) igniting American innovation through initiatives like the flagship Genesis Mission; and 3) modernizing America's nuclear deterrent in support of President Trump's Peace Through Strength Agenda.
The $8.2 billion investment in EM puts the American people first - protecting the environment and building long-term prosperity in communities that served our nation for decades. Thanks to President Trump, the American nuclear renaissance has arrived. It's on full display as remediation and revitalization transforms legacy DOE sites with unique capabilities and skilled workers into hubs of economic strength, affordable, abundant American-made energy, new commercial nuclear technologies, and advanced manufacturing and AI data center development that will allow the United States to win the global AI Race.
Capabilities are in place and operating to address radioactive tank waste in South Carolina, Idaho and Washington State. Decommissioning and demolition progress is creating space for new NNSA and Office of Science missions that strengthen our national security and keep America on the cutting-edge of scientific and technological achievement, as well as for private investments into new power generation including gas turbines and nuclear reactors, AI infrastructure and nuclear fuel reprocessing and recycling across the DOE complex. Infrastructure upgrades are modernizing national assets like the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico to meet the needs of our cleanup, security and science missions for years to come.
At the Hanford site, T operations of the Direct Feed Low Activity Waste system has treated over one million gallons of tank waste and started solidifying it in glass in October 2025. As the system continues to operate, Hanford is, in parallel, adopting a dual glass-and-grout strategy to speed up cleanup and disposal without sacrificing safety or effectiveness. The Department is committed to fulfilling our obligations to the people of Washington and the American taxpayer to complete the cleanup mission successfully and without wasting hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Investments in the Genesis Mission to provide data driven scientific and engineering solutions will further enhance the Hanford cleanup mission.
At SRS, the Department is further accelerating the processing of tank waste and restarting uranium recovery at H Canyon. It is an initiative that will produce HALEU fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, jumpstarting America's nuclear industrial base and closing the nuclear fuel cycle. The Budget also supports restart of another one-of-a-kind national capability at SRS to recycle surplus plutonium and partner with industry to produce fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, accelerating the plutonium disposition mission by up to 13 years and saving American taxpayers up to $350 million. These initiatives are part of the Department's broader goal of expanding nuclear capacity from 100 GW today to 400 GW by 2050 as outlined in President Trump's Executive Order to lead the world in nuclear power generation.
During the first Trump Administration, EM removed the entire K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. That accomplishment is enabling the modernization of one of the nation's most important national security sites and transformation of the entire region into a hub for commercial nuclear power and advanced manufacturing. On the heels of completing the largest demolition to date at the Y-12 National Security Complex earlier this year, smart sequencing of demolition work at high-risk excess facilities there and at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will continue as part of a broader vision for cleaning up the past to modernize America's nuclear deterrent for the future.
The Budget includes $472 million to support continued Waste Isolation Pilot Plant operations, allowing for shipments of defense transuranic waste from sites across the DOE complex, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The DOE team in Idaho will continue operating the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, addressing transuranic waste and providing services for the Department's Office of Naval Reactors. In New York, the West Valley Demonstration Project will take the next steps to reduce environmental risks following completion of a major demolition last year. DOE will continue to focus on the completion of the legacy cleanup mission at the Nevada National Security Site, leveraging opportunities for beneficial reuse and remaining on track to complete that work over the next five years. The Department is no longer just managing the legacy of the past - we are powering the future. As we do, the Department is committed to delivering more for the American people by advancing critical missions, restoring common sense, increasing efficiency, and serving as better stewards of taxpayers' dollars through an outcome-driven approach that transformed liabilities into assets for energy, innovation and national security.
Conclusion
As Secretary of Energy, I am honored and humbled by the responsibility given to me to help meet the American people's growing energy needs, lead the world in energy development, and strengthen our national security. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before this committee.
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Original text here: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wright_opening_statement.pdf