Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
House appropriators voted along party lines Monday to advance a fiscal 2026 energy and water spending bill backing nuclear and minerals while slashing funding for renewable energy.
Why it matters: The draft bill — which won referral from House Appropriations' energy and water subcommittee to the full panel on a 10-5 vote — would codify Trump administration cuts at DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.
- The office was created under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. The Energy Department sought language "explicitly shutting down OCED and realigning appropriations," Axios scooped in April.
Driving the news: The DOE overall would receive nearly $49 billion, a cut of about $1.4 billion but slightly above the administration's $46.3 billion request.
- "We're fully leveraging baseload sources and investing in next-generation production," Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole said in a statement.
What's inside: The bill would increase funding for the Office of Nuclear Energy to $1.8 billion, boosting funding for nuclear fuel enrichment and advanced reactor demonstration program.
- The White House budget had proposed a 24% cut to the nuclear office, which Fleischmann hinted last month he would seek to restore.
- The Loan Programs Office would also get $150 million for advanced nuclear project financing.
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission — in the midst of a White House-directed "total and complete reform" — would receive $27.4 billion, slightly higher than last year.
Between the lines: The bill would cut by 46% the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which funds wind and solar priorities.
- It would reduce by 24% the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, which the Trump budget criticized for conducting research to reduce air travel and expand electric vehicles.
- And it would entirely cut funding to the DOE Office of Energy Justice and Equity, which aimed to ensure historically disadvantaged communities received their fair share of federal funding.
The other side: "House Republicans have once again produced a reckless and short-sighted proposal that betrays working families and undermines America's future," Marcy Kaptur, the energy-water panel's ranking Democrat, said in a statement.
What's next: The energy and water bill is scheduled for a full committee markup Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Interior-EPA budget bill released Monday proposed cuts for both agencies.
- The bill proposed a 23% cut for the EPA and blocks Biden-era regulations like EPA's rules to reduce auto emissions, power plant emissions, and ozone emissions.
- An Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to mark up that bill on Tuesday.
