Senate committee member presses Secretary Wright on FY26 cuts, award cancellations and layoffs

A committee member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee pressed Secretary Wright, Secretary of Energy, during a hearing on the department's fiscal year 2026 budget request, alleging abrupt cancellations of grant awards, large staff reductions and steep cuts to research and lab funding.

The committee member told Wright that "on May 30, $3,700,000,000 in awards from the Office of Clean Energy demonstrations were canceled without notice or without justification," and called the cancellations "impoundment territory" and a potential "breach of contract." The lawmaker said the actions risked U.S. leadership on next-generation technologies and demoralized DOE staff.

The committee member cited several personnel actions in questioning Wright, saying that "less than a month later, however, 2,000 DOE employees, including hundreds of National Nuclear Security Administration employees responsible for safeguarding the nation's nuclear stockpile were fired." The member said the department later partially rescinded the termination orders and moved to reinstate some employees after public criticism.

The lawmaker added that the department is reportedly set to lose thousands more workers to early buyouts, and noted that "taxpayers have spent $70,000,000 to pay people not to work." The committee member said some agencies across government have since rehired workers who were forced out or encouraged to resign.

On laboratory funding, the committee member said the FY26 request would reduce national lab funding by $2,750,000,000, an 11% cut from fiscal 2024 levels, and cited an estimate that the cuts could cost more than 7,700 jobs when fully implemented. "Our nation's scientific and energy leadership is on the line," the member said.

The committee member also criticized what they described as an inconsistency between public statements and actions. Quoting Wright's earlier remarks, the member said Wright had pledged "to follow the laws and statutes of The United States Of America," but pointed to the award cancellations and other moves as evidence of a disconnect.

Energy policy specifics raised during the exchange included a claim that average coal-generated electricity was 28% more expensive in 2024 than in 2021 and that families spent about $6.2 billion more on coal-generated electricity in 2024 than they would have three years earlier. The committee member argued that, as electricity demand grows, "we will not be able to meet the energy needs of new data centers while keeping household bills low if we prevent the growth of affordable clean energy resources. We need a true all of the above strategy," the member said.

The committee member also criticized proposed program cuts in the FY26 request, noting the budget would eliminate the Weatherization Assistance Program, which the member said saves participating households an average of $372 a year. The member said the proposal also cuts the Office of Science by about 14% and would cut ARPA-E funding by about 57%, raising concerns about U.S. research leadership in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Finally, the committee member said they had sent four congressional oversight letters on topics ranging from staff reductions to funding freezes and project cancellations and had received no responses. "That is unacceptable," the member said, urging better communication and changes in department policy and the budget.

The exchange occurred during the FY26 budget hearing; no formal committee action on the budget was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.