Approval from a Department of Energy “senior political appointee” is now required before any money tied to recent Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure awards goes out the door — the latest round in the ongoing struggle over Trump administration efforts to freeze federal spending.
The Feb. 7 memo, viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News, applies to awards and obligations made during the post-election transition period, before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The directive to steer specific payment obligations to Trump’s top political lieutenants comes after several federal judges ruled against administration efforts to halt spending on federal programs. On Friday, top EPA budget officials also issued a memo announcing plans to “temporarily” pause some programs to review whether they’re in “compliance” with new policies.
Taken together, the memos fall in line with Trump’s promise to scrutinize and ultimately stop spending on clean energy projects. Billions of dollars run through climate provisions in the IRA and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. On the day Trump took office, acting DOE officials called for reviews of grants and loan guarantees, throwing into question spending tied to critical minerals, hydrogen and utilities.
The latest DOE directive from Christopher Johns, the deputy chief financial officer, puts under a political microscope every payment tied to a DOE grant, loan or contract made at the end of the Biden administration — to ensure actions are “in line with the statutory mission of DOE,” according to the memo.
“This is highly extraordinary — not normal housekeeping,” said David Super, a Georgetown University law professor who specializes in administrative and constitutional law. “The federal government, with its enormous number of payments, could not function if the checks all had to be run through a political employee.
“They are free to have any officials they think appropriate read things before they go out the door,” he added, but “they cannot withhold funds. The essence of what they’re doing is not in accord with the law.”
Friday’s DOE and EPA memos came after a U.S. district court ruling last month that ordered the administration to lift a blanket spending freeze on federal programs.
Late Tuesday, a federal appeals court refused an emergency bid by the Department of Justice to lift the court restrictions. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the effort. The decision leaves the matter to Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who last month ordered the Trump administration to lift the freeze.
On Monday, accusations that the Trump administration is essentially ignoring McConnell’s original order boiled over in court. McConnell issued a second sharply worded order that took government lawyers to task.
In an interview with a Bloomberg podcast Tuesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he’s spending time examining the department’s portfolio of projects and spending.
“I’ve got to follow the law and manage what I’ve inherited,” Wright said. “There’s a lot of monies uncommitted or early on, and of course those will be deployed to advance the president’s agenda.”
DOE did not respond to a request for further comment Tuesday.
‘Finding the TRUTH’
The spending freezes are part of a well-funded and organized movement by political conservatives to strengthen the president’s power to control the congressionally approved federal budget.
A September 2024 post by the Trump-backed Center for Renewing America said, “Just as the President has discretion to not enforce every criminal law to the fullest extent, the President may make judgments on the extent to which to expend appropriations.”
Trump has joined the legal fray over this and other judicial opposition to his sweep of executive actions, writing on Truth Social, “Activists and highly political judges want us to slow down, or stop. Losing this momentum will be very detrimental to finding the TRUTH.”
From the other side, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, joined by his party’s committee colleagues, accused the administration on Tuesday of overriding congressional mandates in another program area by cutting off funds for charging stations provided by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
“[Y]our refusal to release NEVI funds to states is part of a larger, ongoing pattern by the Trump administration of subverting the Constitution’s delegation to Congress of authority over federal spending,” the Democrats wrote.
POLITICO’s “Biden’s Billions” series, a detailed examination last year of the Biden administration’s unprecedented climate, clean energy and infrastructure initiatives, revealed both long-duration impacts and unfulfilled goals. While Congress provided $1.1 trillion for the package of programs, more than half of that amount — $561 billion — had not been obligated or made available to spend as of Dec. 23, the reporting found.
