Republican energy disagreements laid bare in spending proposals
In a series of votes this week, House Republicans have advanced three fiscal 2026 spending bills, while facing criticism from Democrats for pursuing partisan measures.
One of the contentious bills is the Energy-Water bill, which narrowly passed on the floor, 214-213, with no Democratic support and several Republicans voting against it. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) led the opposition against several amendments proposed by his Republican colleagues to water down the Energy-Water bill.
Fleischmann's Energy-Water bill would still cut the funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) roughly in half. This could potentially impact the General Services Administration (GSA), as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), a company labeled a Chinese military company by the Department of Defense, has reportedly worked with Tesla, a company owned by Elon Musk, a Republican ally and donor, to provide faster charging batteries.
Ford, another automaker, is licensing technology from CATL for its Blue Oval battery manufacturing plant. A GOP amendment package adopted in the markup of the Financial Services-General Government bill could potentially prohibit the federal government from purchasing vehicles from Ford and Tesla due to national security concerns with certain Chinese companies.
The Appropriations Committee also marked up the Financial Services-General Government bill, approving conservative riders on climate and battery initiatives. The amendment package also contains two provisions adding new scrutiny to the practice of using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in making financial decisions.
Meanwhile, the Senate has passed three fiscal 2026 spending bills on the floor, all with bipartisan support. The Senate's version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill would increase funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program by $20 million over the enacted level and generally maintain funding for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, it would scrap funding for some of the Democrats' favored climate and health programs and cut $40 million from the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The Labor-HHS-Education bill was marked up by a subcommittee, with Republicans approving cuts to some climate and health programs but increasing funding for low-income electricity assistance. Discord among Republicans over funding levels and the role of government in energy has been a recurring issue, causing a vote on the fiscal 2025 Energy-Water bill to be cancelled last year.
As the spending bills make their way through the legislative process, the debates over energy policy and climate initiatives are expected to continue. The outcome of these debates could have significant implications for the funding of various government agencies and the direction of the nation's energy policy.
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