The House’s Budget Bill Cuts Earmarks, but Spending Will Be Going Up Anyway
The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (C.R.) on Tuesday to keep the government funded through September. The measure now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain, although some Democrats appear to be ready to support the bill to avert a government shutdown.Â
The C.R. keeps most federal programs funded at FY 2024 levels, excluding defense spending, which will receive a $7 billion boost. A few notable energy and environment programs will receive funding cuts, including the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), which will see its budget fall from its FY 2024 level of $70 million to $55 million. Created in 2005 to fund first-of-its-kind energy projects, the program’s lending authority spiked under the Biden administration—jumping from $17 billion in 2021 to more than $400 billion in 2024. With a majority of this authority set to expire in FY 2026, the agency’s inspector general warned in November 2024 that the LPO was at high risk for fraud and abuse.Â
The C.R. also cuts all earmarked funding from the FY 2024 spending bill, which amounted to nearly $15.8 billion. The Army Corps of Engineers, which received $1.5 billion (a 49 percent increase over FY 2023) for various infrastructure projects in congressional districts, was given $18.5 million for “operations and maintenance” at Georgia’s Brunswick Harbor. The scope of the project includes annual maintenance dredging. Despite this and regular annual appropriations, dredging activities have not commenced. In a February letter to the chief of the Corps of
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