Fleischmann in May. Photo: Pete Kiehart / Bloomberg via Getty Images
House Republicans are drafting a spending bill that funds the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office for nuclear projects, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann says.
Why it matters: The top energy appropriator's comments are the clearest sign yet that the loan office — a perennial GOP punching bag — will continue to issue funding for President Trump's priorities.
What he's saying: LPO is "perhaps the best — and sometimes maybe the only — vehicle to promote new nuclear," Fleischmann told me.
- At the same time, Fleischmann said, he's "going to be addressing" the White House's proposed 24% cut to DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy.
- "My theme is going to be consistent with supporting research, deployment, financing and all-of-the-above with new nuclear," he said.
- He declined to provide specific numbers because the bill isn't final yet.
The big picture: Fleischmann's full-throated endorsement comes after Energy Secretary Chris Wright told an audience two weeks ago that he's working with Congress to maintain funding for LPO.
Between the lines: Despite Wright's comments, Trump energy officials and congressional Republicans have sent mixed signals on LPO's fate.
- LPO's level of government subsidy is "irresponsible and unsustainable, focused on misguided priorities and was often done to the detriment of free markets and private enterprise," Rep. Bob Latta, chair of House E&C's energy subcommittee, told Wright this month.
- The House GOP's reconciliation bill proposes to eliminate unused IRA loan funding, though the DOE's budget proposal included some funding to keep the loan office open.
- And Wright said Tuesday that it's "absolutely infuriating" how much money the outgoing Biden administration finalized after Election Day — though DOE has continued loan disbursements to bring a Michigan nuclear reactor back online.
Still, Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee proposed $660 million for new "energy dominance" financing while repealing a similar program that the IRA set up.
- And a top DOE official said in May that the agency will lean on DOE loans to coal plants and to meet data-center energy demand at the 16 agency sites that cohost data centers and energy infrastructure located next door.
Flashback: Fleischmann last year proposed reprogramming $9 billion from LPO to fund three advanced nuclear demonstration projects in the energy-water spending bill.
The other side: Marcy Kaptur, the top Democrat on the energy-water panel, and other Democrats have decried DOGE-driven energy funding and staffing cuts and are unlikely to be part of any agreement.
What's next: The House panel plans a budget hearing for July 10, Fleischmann told me Wednesday on his way to — appropriately enough — a nuclear energy dinner.
