Top GOP appropriators appear ready to go along with some of the Energy Department's cuts to funding and staff in the upcoming spending cycle, Nick and Daniel write.

Why it matters: The Elon Musk–driven cuts that DOE is proposing will cause conflicts with Congress — but Republicans aren't ready to pump the brakes just yet.

• DOE officials plan to shut down the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and terminate nearly half its funding, as we scooped last week.

Driving the news: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the top House energy-water appropriator, told Nick that OCED's role "needs to be examined."

• "It's going to be interesting to see what they do with that," he said. "There's certainly things that could be put in other portfolios."
• Fleischmann pointed specifically to OCED's advanced nuclear demonstration projects, which he said could be rolled into DOE's larger nuclear energy office.
• "I'm waiting to see what the president does in that budget," he said. "I've not had that conversation [with DOE]."

John Kennedy, the Senate's top energy appropriator, wasn't concerned about the cuts and said he had plans to root out places to cut in funding conversations.

• "I'm sure they've got a lot of waste at the Department of Energy, like everybody else," he told Daniel. "I want to get rid of the waste."
• DOE is also considering laying off thousands of employees it considers "nonessential."
• Asked about that, Fleischmann noted that the federal employees overseeing national lab contractors in his Tennessee district have been "exemplary."

The other side: Democrats have criticized the cuts as indiscriminate and illegal.

• "We did hear they're, as with every department, overreaching, and they're causing chaos to create apprehension," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the top Democrat on the energy and water panel.

Zoom in: OCED was authorized by the bipartisan infrastructure law and formally established by the Biden administration in 2021.

• The DOE proposal that Daniel obtained last week subtly acknowledged that the administration would need Congress to fully close the office.
• It suggested winding down operations and recommending "explicitly shutting down OCED and realigning operations" in President Trump's fiscal 2026 budget.
• "It's like a thief saying 'I'll knock out a few windows and then come back and rob the house tonight,'" Sen. Angus King, who sits on DOE's Senate authorizing committee, told Nick. "These are congressionally established programs."

Between the lines: Fleischmann's subcommittee proposed a large cut to OCED's budget in fiscal 2025 and encouraged it to use billions in existing funds "to consider technology demonstrations in high-emitting and historically difficult-to-abate sectors."

• Senate appropriators, at the time led by Democrats, were more generous with a $125 million recommendation.
• That's all moot for the moment, given the full-year CR.
• But assuming there's any kind of normal process for fiscal 2026, Republicans will have to grapple with Senate Democrats who want to keep OCED funded.

A bipartisan group of eight former FERC commissioners panned a proposal from a Midwestern electricity grid operator to speed up power generation, Daniel writes.

Why it matters: The letter is an unusual rebuke at a time when regional grid operators are scrambling to comply with demands to address a backlog of proposed power projects.

• The plan from Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) — which oversees power to 45 million customers — dovetails with moves in Congress and some states to fast-track power plants.

What they're saying: Under MISO's proposal, regulators could favor utility-owned projects for expedited access to the grid while preventing electricity suppliers from competing, the former commissioners wrote.

• FERC approval would "undermine competition in MISO leading to higher costs for customers" and "threaten to reverse FERC's precedent" of allowing open access to the power grid.
• The group included commissioners serving most of the last 30 years — including two of the most recent chairs, Democrat Richard Glick and Republican Neil Chatterjee.

Flashback: FERC approved a plan in February from PJM Interconnection, the country's largest grid operation, that sought up to 50 projects and used a scoring criteria to select them.

The other side: Several utilities — including Duke Energy Indiana, Ameren Service Co., and American Municipal Power — and Indiana and Missouri's governors voiced support in MISO's docket at FERC.

What's next: FERC has 60 days to respond to MISO's proposal after comments were due yesterday.

🪨 1. Guess what's back: Trump will sign an executive order today aimed at "reinvigorating" coal and designating it as a "critical mineral," our colleague Ben Geman writes.

• Sen. John Barrasso said on the floor today that it's "part of his bold plan to restore American energy dominance."

🌲 2. SOS: Rep. Vince Fong said yesterday that he's reintroducing the bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act once championed by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. (Fong replaced him in Congress.)

🖊️ 3. Magic marker: Senate Energy and Natural Resources tomorrow will mark up a slate of mining bills and vote on the nominations of Katharine MacGregor for deputy Interior secretary and James Danly for deputy Energy secretary.