Murray, Kaptur Blast Energy Department’s Decision to Steer Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Away from Wind, Solar to Favored Industries—In Defiance of Bipartisan Spending Bill
Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, issued the following joint statement on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to illegally cut investments that Congress provided to support the research and development of wind and solar energy, instead steering funds to other favored energy sources, in defiance of the fiscal year 2025 full-year continuing resolution (CR) President Trump himself signed into law in March.
“This outrageous, unlawful decision by the Trump administration is a direct attack on our energy independence and American families’ ability to afford their monthly energy bill. By slashing congressionally mandated investments in cutting-edge technologies, President Trump is driving up energy costs and ceding ground to our global competitors, who certainly aren’t throwing in the towel on the energy solutions of the future. This isn’t a bureaucratic misstep—it’s a deliberate, partisan effort to sabotage bipartisan law and redirect funding to the energy sources favored by Secretary Wright and his allies. We demand the Department immediately reverse this reckless decision and honor the funding levels Congress enacted and the President himself signed into law.”
In fiscal year 2024, Congress provided $137 million for the Department of Energy to support wind energy initiatives and provided $318 million to support solar energy. The fiscal year 2025 full-year CR that House Republicans wrote and President Trump signed into law continued these fiscal year 2024 funding levels. But in a spend plan made public by DOE today, the Trump administration revealed it is steering hundreds of millions of dollars designated by Congress to support wind and solar energy to other, favored industries—jeopardizing critical progress and ceding ground on key energy solutions of the future—among other harmful cuts. Instead of funding wind energy initiatives at $137 million, the administration is funding them at $29.8 million (a 78% cut), and instead of funding solar initiatives at $318 million, it is funding them at $41.9 million (an 87% cut).
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