Federal Energy Tax Credits Will Cost More Than $4 Trillion. Lawmakers Might Not Cut Them.
With a continuing resolution passed and the federal government funded through September, Republican members of Congress are aiming to finalize a budget resolution, which needs to be agreed to by both chambers, by the week of April 7, reports Politico. This self-imposed deadline may not be met.
One of the largest sticking points in House and Senate negotiations is the House-passed plan to identify $880 billion in spending cuts through FY 2034 in programs overseen by the Energy and Commerce Committee. This feat would likely require substantial reforms or cuts to entitlements like Medicaid. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, called the House’s plan “woefully inadequate.”
A source of wasteful spending that lawmakers could target is energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Passed in 2022, the IRA supercharged subsidies and tax credits for all types of energy technologies, including renewables, sustainable aviation fuel, nuclear power, and electric vehicles. The bill also gave oil and gas companies access to $500 billion in new tax credits, according to the tax firm Baker Tilly. So far, the IRA’s subsidies have largely benefited wealthy households and large corporations.
The Congressional Budget Office initially projected the
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