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Committee examines impact of inspector general removals, workforce cuts and funding freezes at EPA and DOE
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Summary
Lawmakers and oversight witnesses told the House subcommittee that recent removals of inspector generals, large workforce departures and agency hiring freezes have complicated oversight and program implementation, affecting permit reviews, grants monitoring and delivery of projects such as clean school bus rebates.
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee pressed GAO and inspector general witnesses about the consequences of recent mass departures, firings and hiring freezes at the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, and the related suspension or review of awards and disbursements.
Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he was "genuinely shocked" that the subcommittee was holding its hearing while, he asserted, administrations had removed numerous inspector generals. Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Rep. Kathy Manning among others also raised concerns. Several members noted that the inspector generals for EPA and DOE had been removed and that the law requires Congress be notified before an IG termination.
Nicole Murley, acting inspector general for EPA, told the committee the EPA OIG has not experienced terminations but said hiring freezes have held up roughly 32 individuals in various stages of onboarding and that about 23 EPA OIG staff accepted a deferred-resignation program. Murley said the OIG is constrained because the IRA did not include dedicated oversight funding for EPA OIG, limiting the office's ability to conduct more robust IRA oversight despite doing IIJA work.
Jonathan Black and other witnesses described workforce impacts at DOE OIG and at program offices. Black said he anticipated his last day at DOE OIG the week following the hearing and confirmed that 39 DOE OIG staff had accepted a deferred-resignation program; he said such losses affect institutional capacity. GAO witnesses and the OIGs told members that reductions in staff and loss of contractors or paused contracts complicate the agencies' ability to monitor awards, complete permitting reviews and perform post-award oversight.
Members gave multiple examples they said were affected by staffing and funding actions: GAO and witnesses discussed backlogs in EPA permitting (including Class VI underground injection permits for carbon storage), the Clean School Bus rebate program (EPA OIG said as of February 2025 only 43% of buses funded in 2022 had been delivered), and reported freezes or review processes that delayed disbursement of grants and awards to states and localities. Witnesses said in some cases agency leadership described case-by-case reviews for disbursements but that courts have issued rulings about withholding congressionally authorized funds, and that questions remain about how much money is being withheld and the legal basis for freezes.
Witnesses emphasized that offices of inspector general and GAO continue work but that these personnel disruptions, hiring freezes, and contract pauses increase the risk that funds will not be monitored or that projects will be delayed.
Ending: Committee members from both parties said they would continue oversight of staffing impacts and funding decisions. Witnesses agreed to provide additional materials for the record and to continue audits and reviews of program capacity and awards management.
