Energy Department Struggling to Monitor Billions in Spending After Budget Doubles

The seal of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is displayed on the floor outside the board room at the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. Andrew Harnik/AP

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is congressionally mandated to spend $32 million each day for the next 1,261 days to “exhaust” nearly $500 billion before a Sept. 30, 2026, deadline authorized under four Biden administration economic stimulus bills adopted since 2021.

Two bills don’t include funding for compliance assurance, while the other two earmark marginal allocations for fraud detection within “administrative cost” allowances.