U.S. Rep. Titus (D-NV) drafting House appropriations bill amendments to fight Yucca dump

From politico.com:

SIMPSON FRUSTRATED WITH APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS: House leadership failed to give senior appropriators adequate time to convince reticent GOP colleagues to support individual spending packages and moved onto a hybrid "security-bus" bill too quickly, frustrated energy spending chief Mike Simpson said Wednesday. "We worked very hard and put in a lot of late nights to get all these bills done, and we did exactly what our conference wanted us to do," the Idaho Republican said. "We should have an opportunity to convince our colleagues that this is a good thing, that they should vote for these." Instead, GOP leaders will move a national security "mini-bus," including Simpson's energy and water title, next week. But exasperated by the process, he declared himself "undecided" on the measure while acknowledging he was "trying to send a message more than anything else."

Bearish on the fate of the other bills: Simpson thought next week's bill would get across the finish line, but he wasn't sure about other measures, including the Interior-EPA spending package. "I'd be surprised if we're able to pass the rest of those bills in September," he said. "I think you're going to do at least a short-term CR and we'll see how long."

Litany of amendments coming: Lawmakers will likely to seek to restore funding through amendments to their preferred DOE programs (ARPA-E, anyone?) on the floor next week, though the "problem is, where do you take the money out from," Simpson said. He also anticipated efforts to strip out riders on items like the Waters of the U.S. regulation. Dina Titus, for example, tweeted she was "drafting amendments to fight Yucca Mountain funding in the House appropriations bill & stop this unworkable project." (emphasis added)