The Trump administration is reportedly planning a series of federal funding cuts that might result in the redirection of a portion of the Department of Energy budget into the National Nuclear Security Administration’s defense programs.
The Hill reported last month that Trump’s transition team staffers have planned major funding reductions for the DOE and other federal agencies in an attempt to cut government spending by over $10 trillion over a decade.
A congressional staffer suggested by email the administration would propose an across-the-board 10 percent cut to domestic programs and that NNSA would likely see a small increase, “but not wildly beyond FY17 funding.” Still, the NNSA has several contingency budgets that would either keep its funding steady or offer an increase in case of budget cuts, the staffer said, noting the agency is likely to push for a significant increase.
The Department of Energy receives roughly $30 billion in each fiscal year, with more than $12 billion of that going to its semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. The agency uses the bulk of that money for its work to sustain the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
The Trump administration’s first budget proposal, for the 2018 budget year beginning on Oct. 1, is expected by the end of April, The Hill reported.
A source said this week that potential cuts to the DOE of roughly 10 percent might be channeled into the NNSA to support the weapons programs; this would likely go to the agency’s stockpile refurbishment operations and the infrastructure supporting the defense programs. That would include funding to address the deferred maintenance problem across the nuclear enterprise, which currently features a $3.7 billion backlog.
The staff of the House and Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittees that authorize NNSA programs are likely driving the effort, the source said, while the cuts to DOE offices might end up as consolidations rather than total elimination.
The Hill reported that the federal funding cuts reflect The Heritage Foundation think tank’s report: Blueprint for Balance: A Federal Budget for 2017, which recommends capping the growth of NNSA programs not directly related to the nuclear weapons program to save $780 million in fiscal 2017.
The Heritage Foundation recommended eliminating DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to save $2 billion, the Office of Fossil Energy to save $844 million, and the Biological and Environmental Research Program to save $622 million – all in fiscal 2017 – among other reductions.
“Congress should restructure the Department of Energy to conduct the basic research that the private sector would not undertake and create a system that allows the private sector, using private funds, to tap into that research and commercialize it. Federal labs should allow basic research to reach the market organically,” the document says.
