Good morning.You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.The Trump administration has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia that would allow American companies to operate commercial nuclear power plants in the country.
American companies will have priority access to supply nuclear reactors and fuel to the Saudi nuclear energy program, according to an administration memo about the agreement seen by NPR.Saudi Arabia cannot reprocess American nuclear material for weapons per the agreement.
But the memo lacks the "gold standard" provisions that would prevent the country from using American-built plants to enrich uranium or other nuclear fuel supplied by other countries.The country is also not required to adopt terms that would lead to greater oversight from the International Atomic Energy Agency.House Republicans passed several significant pieces of legislation yesterday ahead of a more than month-long recess.
Lawmakers approved $1.1 trillion for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with six Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the effort.Republicans also separately advanced a $95 billion budget blueprint that would set them up for a reconciliation bill.
The framework allocates more than $70 billion for the war in Iran, $12 billion for farmers and funds to implement the SAVE America Act, President Trump's election overhaul bill.The House also advanced a bill that could ban lawmakers from acquiring new individual stocks while in office, and voted to extend government funding past the midterms to Dec.
4.These bills are now headed to the Senate, which will be in session for one more week.Starting today, the Food and Drug Administration is holding a two-day meeting to decide whether compounding pharmacies should be allowed to produce popular injectable peptides.
The panel will evaluate seven compounds, inc...