House Republicans are pressuring Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to pull back the curtains on nearly half a trillion dollars that Congress has appropriated to the department within the past year over fears it could succumb to waste and fraud.
The inquiry underscores the sort of rigorous oversight that Republicans have vowed to conduct if they retake control of the lower chamber next month via document requests and testimony from top Biden administration officials.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans, led by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, pressed for information from Ms. Granholm on the combined $450 billion from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Democrats’ recent tax-and-climate-spending law to be doled out via avenues like taxpayer subsidies and loan guarantees.
Much of the money is aimed at boosting new domestic green energy production, including electric vehicle battery manufacturing and other clean technology that is currently dominated by China.
“The scope and scale of this expanded loan authority, related credit subsidies, and rapid four-year timeline for making commitments, raise questions about increased risks of waste, fraud and abuse, especially if the administration uses the program for its rush-to-green agenda,” the Republicans wrote in a letter to Ms. Granholm.
The letter, which was also signed by Republicans Fred Upton of Michigan and Morgan Griffith of Virginia, requested that a host of information be delivered by Oct. 25.
That includes who has been promised loan guarantees, what the review process is and when they will be repaid; a list of all open funding and financing opportunities, and the specifics of what applicants want to fund; what DOE has done in recent months to address major risks to the loans as previously identified by a government watchdog; and what steps DOE has taken to ensure loan guarantees will protect intellectual property and not fall prey to China or other American adversaries.
The Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
The agency’s loan program was reformed by Congress in 2020 in the wake of the Solyndra scandal under the Obama administration that featured the solar panel start-up receiving north of $500 million in government-backed loans before filing for bankruptcy and closing up shop.
Still, the Republicans said they’re concerned about a Solyndra 2.0 given “the massive increase in subsidies, expanded eligibility and the new focus of the program.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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