Senate Republicans overcame initial Democratic resistance to an amendment to the intelligence authorization creating a semi-autonomous agency to oversee the Energy Department's nuclear development program after legislators reached compromises that added to the Energy secretary's authority for overseeing the newly created agency, the Associated Press reported.
The agency was dubbed the Agency for Nuclear Stewardship.
The legislation stems from widespread concern over alleged espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons labs, which fall under the DOE's jurisdiction.
Congressional committees, as well as a Clinton administration-sponsored commission study, have concluded that blurry lines of authority between the labs and the department allowed security concerns to be ignored for years.
The White House said in a statement it wanted to examine the final version of the bill before giving its support.