Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
House Republicans' dispute over reconciliation spending is accelerating the ongoing debate about the future of the IRA's energy tax credits.
Why it matters: The climate law is one of the GOP's biggest opportunities to find savings to pay for an extension of the original Trump tax cuts and other priorities.
Driving the news: House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington warned Wednesday that keeping some of the IRA credits in place could derail the reconciliation push.
- "There is an appropriate pressure on our conference to find as much savings in the tax code as possible," Arrington told reporters.
- The IRA credits, he said, are "one of the biggest" opportunities for Republicans.
- "There are some members, because of the economic interest of their district, who would like to keep one piece or a couple of pieces," he said. "And I just think once you start doing that, then you can do that in health care … and it just all starts to break."
The big picture: Republicans had hoped to start moving a budget resolution through Arrington's committee to formally begin the reconciliation process this week.
- That hasn't happened yet. Conservatives are pushing to go beyond budget cuts that leadership has outlined.
- The budget blueprint sets the parameters for other committees to draw up pieces of a reconciliation bill in their jurisdiction.
- The committee has estimated Republicans could pull $796 billion in savings over 10 years by repealing all of the IRA's energy incentives.
Yes, but: Some Republicans are hoping those IRA-driven district investments can sway leadership.
- Conservative Climate Caucus Chair Mariannette Miller-Meeks and others want to keep, in some form, credits for carbon capture, biofuels and minerals, as well as the tech-neutral energy production and investment incentives.
- A big coalition of industry groups launched a fresh round of meetings and letters to the Hill today asked lawmakers to protect the IRA.
- The coalition includes the Solar Energy Industries Association, National Hydropower Association and the business group E2.
Between the lines: Republicans think the Trump administration's spending freeze could also give them additional opportunities to pull back the IRA's mega-sized grant and loan programs at EPA and DOE.
- Some of that money is legally contracted to grantees, including much of what was appropriated to EPA, but the Trump administration has nonetheless paused disbursement.
- "We have to discern where it is, which is one of the reasons why, if you're in the executive branch, you might want to freeze," Rep. Morgan Griffith, chair of Energy and Commerce's Environment Subcommittee, told Axios.
What's next: Arrington said he hopes to be ready to notice a markup on a budget resolution by the end of this week.
