Why it Matters
The Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on Strategic Forces is set to scrutinize two of the federal government's most consequential and expensive programs (the Department of Energy's atomic energy defense activities and the Pentagon's nuclear weapons programs) as part of the annual review that shapes the fiscal year 2027 defense authorization request. With nuclear modernization costs mounting, nonproliferation concerns intensifying, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities increasingly threading through defense infrastructure, what emerges from this hearing could influence hundreds of billions in future spending.
The Policy Landscape
The hearing arrives as Congress grapples with overlapping pressures on nuclear policy: an aggressive push to expand domestic nuclear energy capacity, ongoing modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and a threat environment that includes Iran's weapons ambitions and adversary cyber operations targeting defense systems.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) has been vocal on multiple fronts. In the days before the hearing, he highlighted quantum computing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, cybersecurity, energy and national defense in a single communication, indicating how intertwined these issues have become. Earlier, he promoted Kairos Power's Hermes reactor project at Oak Ridge as emblematic of advanced nuclear energy security, and separately called for obliterating any pathway for Iran to build nuclear weapons.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) framed the broader context in late March, stating that "America is moving forward toward energy dominance and next generation nuclear will help lead the way."
On the Democratic side, Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the "No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act" in late March, targeting nuclear proliferation concerns in U.S. foreign policy - a direct counterpoint to the committee's broader examination of how American nuclear technology is developed, secured, and potentially shared.
Lobbying Activity
The industries with the most at stake in DOE atomic energy defense appropriations and Pentagon nuclear programs have not been quiet. In the year preceding the hearing, at least 25 lobbying disclosures were filed on topics directly relevant to what the subcommittee will examine.
The Nuclear Energy Institute (the industry's primary trade group) reported $320,000 in second quarter 2025 lobbying, climbing to $380,000 in the third quarter and $420,000 in the fourth quarter, covering nuclear energy programs, defense appropriations, and mobile nuclear microreactors for military applications.
Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC reported $230,000 per quarter in the second half of 2025, lobbying specifically on the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for 2026 and the International Nuclear Energy Financing Act.
Advanced reactor startup Oklo Inc. reported $424,000 in first quarter 2025 lobbying alone. The focus was mostly on Nuclear Regulatory Commission and DOE policies affecting deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, as well as provisions in Public Law 119-21 related to nuclear investment tax credits.
U.S. Enrichment Corp. filed disclosures across three quarters of 2025, each at $50,000, focused on the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and DOE enrichment programs - a supply chain issue that carries direct national security implications given U.S. dependence on foreign uranium sources.
On the arms control side, the Council for a Livable World reported consistent $40,000 quarterly filings throughout 2025, lobbying on the National Defense Authorization Act, nuclear weapons and delivery systems budgets, and U.S. relationships with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan.
Northrop Grumman, a primary contractor on nuclear modernization programs, filed disclosures each quarter (reporting $20,000 in fourth quarter 2025) covering nuclear modernization in defense appropriations bills and the NDAA.
Cybersecurity as a Nuclear Defense Issue
The hearing's classification under cybersecurity as a custom issue area reflects a growing recognition that digital vulnerabilities are inseparable from nuclear infrastructure security. Two major cybersecurity firms have been actively lobbying on exactly this intersection.
Palo Alto Networks reported $50,000 in second quarter 2025 lobbying focused specifically on cybersecurity threats to the Department of Defense and relevant provisions in the fiscal year 2026 NDAA. Tenable Inc. reported $60,000 in first quarter 2025 and again in the fourth quarter, covering critical infrastructure protection, operational technology, and Department of Defense cybersecurity programs.
Hagerty's April 14 communication connecting quantum computing, Oak Ridge, and cybersecurity to national defense underscores that the committee's framing of nuclear defense now extends well beyond warheads and delivery systems.
The Bottom Line
The hearing is structured as a formal review of the fiscal year 2027 defense authorization request and the Future Years Defense Program, the multi-year spending blueprint that governs how the Pentagon and DOE plan nuclear investments over time. That makes the testimony gathered here foundational to the NDAA debate that will consume much of the Senate's defense agenda through the summer.
Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), who recently joined the Senate Armed Services Committee, will be among those weighing in on a portfolio that spans warhead life extension programs, nuclear delivery systems, DOE national laboratory funding, and the cybersecurity posture of the entire nuclear enterprise.
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