For the week ending August 7th
CONFIRMING DEPUTY SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Voting 79 for and 16 against, the Senate on Aug. 4 confirmed Mark W. Menezes as deputy secretary of energy. His duties will include overseeing the $35 billion Department of Energy budget and helping to manage the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Menezes had served as an under secretary of energy since 2017, and
before that he was chief counsel on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and worked for the American Electric Power Company and Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
No senator spoke against Menezes.
YES: Tom Udall, D, Martin Heinrich, D
BARRING TIKTOK FROM GOVERNMENT DEVICES: On a non-record vote, the Senate on Aug. 6 passed a bill (S 3455) that would require federal agencies to remove the Chinese social messaging app TikTok from government-issued smart phones and computers, as the Department of Defense already has done. TikTok, which is used to make music videos, resides on more than 80 million devices in America including some operated by federal workers. Critics say Tik- Tok collects voluminous personal data on users for potential or actual sharing with the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party. The company is exploring the possible sale of its operations in the United States and certain other countries to Microsoft.
No senator spoke against the bill, which is now before the House.
HOUSE Deb Haaland (D) Ben Ray Luján (D) Xochitl Torres Small (D)
SENATE Martin Heinrich (D) Tom Udall (D)
Contact your legislators at the U.S. Capitol
Zip codes: House 20515, Senate 20510
Capitol operator: (202) 224-3121