Budget Hearing - U.S. Department of Energy
House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
2025-05-07
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Source: Congress.gov
Summary
The Energy and Water Subcommittee of Appropriations convened a hearing to review the Department of Energy's fiscal year 2026 budget request, with a focus on energy security, national lab operations, and nuclear energy development. Secretary Chris Wright, who recently assumed office, emphasized the Department's commitment to advancing American energy dominance through research in high-performance computing, AI, fusion, and critical minerals. Witnesses, including Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur and Congressman Mike Simpson, raised concerns about funding cuts, project cancellations, and the need for streamlined permitting. The hearing centered on ensuring robust support for nuclear energy technologies, addressing the long-term management of spent nuclear fuel, and promoting domestic energy production to reduce reliance on foreign sources. Key topics included the revival of advanced nuclear reactor development, the importance of national laboratories, and the urgent need to modernize the nation's nuclear security infrastructure in response to evolving global threats.
Participants
Transcript
The hearing will come to order. Good morning, everyone. I am Congressman Chuck Fleischman. I represent the 3rd District of Tennessee, including the great DOE reservation at Oak Ridge. I am privileged to be the Chairman of the Energy and Water Subcommittee of Appropriations, and I would like to personally welcome the Honorable Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, before I begin my formal remarks, Mr. Secretary, thank you on several levels. First of all, thank you for stepping up, a great American entrepreneur. You have left the private sector to take on this arduous task, this important task at this time in our nation as Secretary of Energy. I would like my colleagues and friends on both sides of the dais to know that the Secretary not only has been extremely communicative and cooperative with us, he has actually visited several of the reservations, including the Great Reservation at Oak Ridge, been to our great national labs, seen our NNSA facility and our great legacy cleanup work that's being done. He's visited other labs, and he's met with all of our national lab directors. As most of you know, the Office of Science is near and dear to my heart. And so, Mr. Secretary, thank you for a great 100 days. Thank you for your first hearing before us. And it's just an honor and privilege to have you here today. Mr. Thank you, Chairman. It's an honor for me to be here. Mr. Thank you, sir. Mr. Secretary, you have had a busy 100 days. from ending the reckless pause on LNG exports on day one, to reversing extreme energy efficiency standards that would significantly increase prices for American consumers, to restarting decommissioned nuclear power plants. We've already seen the Trump administration's firm commitment, which I support wholly, to reverse the harmful policies and regulatory outreach
of the previous administration in order to unleash American energy dominance. The Department of Energy plays a critical role in ensuring America's security and prosperity, and I strongly support many of the Department's programs and activities. However, I applaud Secretary Wright and his entire team – and they've been great to work with, Mr. Secretary – for working to find efficiencies and streamline operations. While we still are awaiting the full details of the President's fiscal 2026 budget request, candidly, I am concerned to see such a significant reduction for the Office of Science. However, I am pleased to see the Department plans to prioritize research in high-performance computing, AI, quantum, fusion, and critical minerals, as well as reprocessing. The national labs will continue to drive American scientific and technological leadership and ensure our nation remains at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation. The research done at our national labs is essential to rebuilding our domestic critical minerals production capacity, expanding American energy production, enhancing our national security, and competing with our adversaries like Russia and China. In addition, my support for the important work done by our national labs. Most people recognize me as a strong advocate for nuclear energy. Make no mistake, I'm an advocate for all the above energy strategy to include natural gas and coal. Because of the facets of modern society, we benefit when there is abundant, affordable energy. But nuclear, in my view, Mr. Secretary, must be a foundational part of our energy strategy. So I'm glad to see the department plans to focus on developing innovative concepts for nuclear reactors and researching advanced nuclear fuels.
I do have some concerns candidly with the proposed reduction to the nuclear energy budget. We're at a pivotal moment in the development of our nuclear energy technologies in the United States. The success of which are critical to regaining international dominance in the nuclear market for our own domestic energy security. The previous administration respectfully gave lip service to civil nuclear, but ultimately failed to request the funding and resources required for its success. I expect to see a resurgence in civil nuclear power under the Trump administration, and federal investment, in my view, is essential to ensure the successful demonstration of these first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies for commercial deployment in the United States. I'm pleased to see the budget request include strong support for the National Nuclear Security Administration, as we know it, the NNSA. But I would like to see more resources requested in NNSA's base discretionary budget request rather than it assumed via reconciliation. The global strategic environment is rapidly changing. Our nation's nuclear deterrent is vital to our national defense, and NNSA is responsible for ensuring the United States maintains a safe, secure and reliable nuclear stockpile. We spent two decades after the Cold War deferring any decisions about the future of our nuclear deterrent. And after decades of significant underinvestment, we were left with a nuclear security enterprise primarily working in facilities dating back to Cold War and, in some cases, the Manhattan Project. Today, we're nearly 15 years into the modernization and recapitalization of our nation's nuclear triad and entire nuclear security enterprise. It is imperative that we fully commit to the continued modernization of our nuclear weapons complex in order to rebuild our capacity, increase our capability, and respond more quickly to today's global security landscape.
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