The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget request, released April 3, follows the spirit of the fiscal 2026 budget, with draconian cuts to renewable energy and water programs, along with massive increases in defense spending and funding for the US Department of Homeland Security. The budget calls for a reduction of more than $73 billion from enacted levels in 2026. While the budget is limited in detail, providing mostly top-line numbers, it highlights the administration’s broader priorities.
The proposed budget calls for a 52% decrease in funding for the US Environmental Protection Agency, $4.6 billion below enacted levels in 2026, cutting just $2.5 billion from the EPA’s state clean and drinking water revolving loan programs.
The US Department of Energy would see a $4.8 billion increase from enacted levels for fiscal year 2026, but most of the funding boost would go to further developing the US nuclear weapons arsenal. Part of the funding would also allow the National Nuclear Security Administration to support the development of next-generation technologies for future nuclear naval systems.
The budget would also repurpose funds established in the Biden administration’s Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act (IIJA) for clean energy, cutting a total of $15.2 billion for renewables, direct capture of carbon dioxide from the air and other funding that the administration describes as “unreliable.” DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation would receive $1.1 billion.
David Shadburn, legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement: “Instead of supporting expensive and polluting fossil fuels, we should be investing in affordable clean energy, the fastest and cheapest way to tackle skyrocketing energy bills and meet rising energy demand.”
The US Department of Transportation will also see cuts, with a reduction in capital investment grants for transit of $486 million, a 29% reduction over enacted levels; and a reduction of $327 million for Amtrak, or 13%.
But even though the budget request expresses the priorities of any administration, it is still a request, not an edict. Congress generally modifies, often extensively, any number outlined in a White House budget plan. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement: “While the administration proposes a budget, Congress holds the power of the purse.”
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Brad Townsend, vice president of policy and outreach at the nonpartisan Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, describes the budget primarily as a “messaging document” to highlight the White House’s priorities.
Townsend’s group is tracking what will happen to projects that had been planned through the Industrial Demonstration Program within the former Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, which was disbanded in 2025, with more than $3 billion in project funding canceled. Some of the office’s projects and responsibilities were diverted to different departments within the Department of Energy. The industrial demonstration program was particularly hard hit, Townsend told ENR. This office has focused on demonstrating the feasibility of projects and technologies aimed at reducing emissions in some of the most difficult industries to decarbonize, such as steel and cement production.
Those cuts are not going unnoticed by potential corporate investors, many of whom will be less willing to take on risk going forward, Townsend said, adding: “At a time when we should be making these investments, we’re … closing up shop … instead, and I think it’s going to have a profound long-term impact on our economy.”
