Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House appropriators press DOE on cuts to Office of Science and national labs funding
Loading...
Summary
Members of the House Appropriations subcommittee questioned Department of Energy funding priorities at a May 7 hearing, pressing Secretary Chris Wright about proposed reductions to the Office of Science while seeking assurances the national labs will keep core research and cleanup work on track.
House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Chuck Fleischmann opened the May 7 hearing on the Department of Energy’s fiscal 2026 budget request by flagging concerns about reductions to the Office of Science and the department’s research priorities.
The hearing matters because the Office of Science supports long‑term research that underpins national labs, homeland security and advanced energy technologies; subcommittee members warned cuts could slow projects ranging from high‑performance computing to environmental cleanup.
Chairman Chuck Fleischmann and Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur both told Secretary Chris Wright they were worried about steep proposed reductions to the Office of Science and other research accounts. Fleischmann said he was “candidly, concerned to see such a significant reduction for the office of science,” and Kaptur called the administration’s proposed cuts to energy efficiency and renewables “devastating.” Secretary Wright defended the department’s priorities, saying the budget would concentrate resources on “high performance computing, AI, quantum, fusion, and critical minerals” while supporting nuclear development and modernization of the nuclear security enterprise.
Members repeatedly raised the national labs’ role. Wright told the panel he had visited several national labs in his first 100 days and pledged to visit all 17 labs within a year. Representative Mike Simpson (Idaho) and Representative Dan Newhouse (Washington) urged continued support for Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, respectively. Wright said work at the labs would remain central and that the department planned efficiencies to “do more with less.”
On cleanup funding, Representative Simpson asked whether lowering budgets at other cleanup sites would increase total cost or completion time; Wright said the proposed overall reduction in environmental management was “quite small” and that he expected efficiencies to prevent slowdowns, but he did not supply a site‑by‑site cost projection at the hearing.
Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro told the secretary the department had not delivered a required spend plan tied to the year‑long continuing resolution and pressed for the detailed plan required by statute; Wright acknowledged the department was reviewing projects and said he would provide updates and further briefings.
Committee members also cited the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and NNSA. Fleischmann said he was “pleased to see the budget request includes strong support for the National Nuclear Security Administration,” while Kaptur and others warned the department must avoid undercutting energy innovation and community programs.
The subcommittee entered the secretary’s full written testimony into the record and asked for follow‑up briefings and documentation; Wright agreed to provide further details and to continue discussions with members about lab funding and cleanup programs.
Looking ahead, members signaled they will press for greater detail in the department’s spend plan and for assurances that cuts will not interrupt critical lab research or long‑running cleanup projects.
