A House Energy and Commerce hearing Tuesday gave Democrats a rare chance to press a senior Department of Energy official on the administration’s recent cancellation of clean energy grants in blue states, the agency’s role in Venezuela’s oil and its broader approach to renewable energy.
Alex Fitzsimmons, head of DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response, appeared before the panel as lawmakers reviewed draft cybersecurity legislation.
But Democrats used the hearing to question him in his additional role as acting undersecretary of energy, a position he has held since October.
Much of the exchange centered on a federal judge’s order Monday directing DOE to reinstate nearly $28 million in Biden-era grants that were canceled earlier this fall.
