Frank Pallone Confronts Energy Secretary Chris Wright About Failure To Answer Congressional Requests

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During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) spoke about Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much. The chairman yields back the balance of his time. The chair now recognizes the

00:04gentleman from New Jersey, the ranking member of the full committee, for five minutes for an opening

00:08statement. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we're here to discuss the Department of Energy's fiscal

00:14year 2026 budget request, but the destruction of our national energy policy had already started

00:20before we received this flawed and harmful budget. It started on day one when Trump signed disastrous

00:26executive orders that halted federal grants and propped up polluting fossil fuels. It continued

00:32with House Republicans passing the one big ugly bill that eliminates programs that are lowering

00:37energy costs and helping to build clean energy manufacturing here in America. Also, Republicans

00:43can give giant tax breaks to billionaires. And now we have a Trump budget that will increase household

00:48energy costs, prioritize oil and gas, undermine clean energy and gut energy assistance programs.

00:55And at a time when energy demand is increasing, this budget will make it harder for our nation to meet

01:00the moment. The Secretary Wright, welcome to the Energy and Commerce Committee. But I have to say,

01:05I've tried to get answers from you on a number of actions at DOE, ranging from staffing costs to project

01:11delays and funding freezes. But every single letter I have sent has gone unanswered. When appearing before

01:17a different committee, you seem to indicate that you view responding to Congress as an optional part of

01:22your job. And I want to be clear, it's not. And responding to this committee is part of your

01:28responsibility to the American people. After all, you owe them an explanation of your actions over

01:33the last six months. The agency has forced Americans to pay higher energy bills to keep outdated and

01:39expensive coal plants online. It is revoking energy and water efficiency standards that lower energy

01:44bills for American families. It canceled $3.7 billion in grants that would lower emissions from the

01:51industrial sector and create thousands of good-paying energy jobs. The Department of Energy also threw

01:56open its doors to Elon Musk and his Doge minions. Musk forced out more than 3,500 DOE staffers, and now

02:04the agency has lost experienced and valuable personnel with critical expertise. And now the Trump

02:09administration sends Congress a budget request that hollows out DOE even more, slashing funding by more

02:16than 25 percent. It slashes funding for the weatherization assistance program, zeroes out

02:21grants for renewable grid integration and wind and solar energy, and cuts loan programs for advanced

02:27vehicle technologies and tribal energy. So, Mr. Secretary, in your confirmation hearing, you indicated

02:33that expanding the grid was, and I'm quoting now, important to securing and modernizing a resilient

02:39electricity grid to meet growing electricity demand, unquote. But your budget proposal rescinds billions of

02:45dollars in investments in the nation's power grid, making it even more difficult for us to modernize and

02:51secure it for the future. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans claim to care about

02:56competing with China. You hear that over and over again. But every action that they take only leaves

03:01America further behind in the global energy leadership race. By freezing and canceling investments in

03:08emerging clean energy technologies, the Trump administration is letting China win. By undercutting manufacturing

03:14projects set to build electric vehicles and solar panels here in the United States, the Trump

03:20administration is leaving a door wide open for our competitors. They're letting China further grow its own

03:25supply chains and its global market share. And we were on the verge of a clean energy manufacturing

03:31renaissance, and the Trump administration has ground it all to a halt. And the Trump administration

03:36allowed its reckless alliance with Elon Musk and his DOGE minions to threaten the operations of the National

03:42Nuclear Security Administration and the Bonneville Power Administration. And now that that alliance

03:48between Musk and Trump, I guess, has come to an end with this ongoing war of words on social media.

03:53But still, the Trump administration now claims that Musk is only looking to support his financial

03:59interests. Well, they did not voice any concern for Musk's very real conflict of interest when he was

04:04decimating our federal agencies or indiscriminately firing workers and all while covertly stealing American

04:10sensitive personal data. They didn't seem to care about it then. Now they say they care. But before I finish, Secretary,

04:17it looks like you and I agree on at least one issue. And that is that nuclear energy is worth investing in and that the

04:24loan programs office has an important role to play. And that's something I hope you will reiterate with committee

04:30Republicans today who don't seem to share your view on this. In the one big ugly bill, they completely zeroed out

04:36funding for DOE's loan programs office. It also appears that even you have some concerns about this budget request. In

04:44testimony before the Senate last month, you asked Congress to send DOE the budget it needs, not the one you asked for. And so I

04:51question your own support for the budget that you are here to defend. So I'm looking forward to finally getting some answers

04:57today. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you very much.

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