House Advances Energy, Public Works Budget Bill

The $57 billion package, which trimmed spending and dramatically boosted nuclear weapons funding, passed by one vote and faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

The U.S. Capitol on Sept. 2, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The House of Representatives has advanced a $57.3 billion energy and water agency spending plan that slashes current-year allocations for non-defense programs by nearly 3 percent while boosting spending for the nation’s nuclear weapons programs by more than 25 percent.

H.R. 4553, the Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies budget, was adopted on Sept. 4 in a 214–213 partisan tally, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against the measure.

The bill, the third of 12 annual appropriations packages passed by the House, now moves on to the Senate, where it will likely need Democratic support to get to President Donald Trump’s desk by Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year.

House Republicans in an Appropriations Committee summary said the measure provides $33.2 billion in defense funding and $24.1 billion in non-defense funding, which is $766.4 million less than the Fiscal Year 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies budget.

More than $25 billion of that defense-related allocation is earmarked for the National Nuclear Security Administration to finance “the continued modernization of the nuclear weapons stockpile and the U.S. Navy nuclear fleet,” the summary states.

Other highlights cited by GOP lawmakers include $8.4 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and $9.9 billion for Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects.

“At the same time, the bill reduces funding by 25 percent across numerous other department programs, including the applied energy technology offices, to ensure taxpayer resources are focused on the highest priority research and development projects,” the summary states.

House Democrats in a post-vote statement called the bill “harmful” and said it “increases costs for American households, undermines infrastructure investments, and weakens [U.S.] national security.”

The proposed spending plan cuts more than $5 billion—nearly half—from renewable energy and efficiency programs approved with the 2021 adoption of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, eliminates all funding for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and cuts nuclear nonproliferation spending by 17 percent.

“This bill cedes American leadership in the global energy race to our adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said from the floor before the vote.

“The passage of this ill-considered and careless bill hurts our communities from coast to coast, and is a true disservice for future generations to come.”

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) joined Democrats in voting against the spending plan, which faces challenges in the Senate.

Even with a 53–47 Republican majority in the upper chamber, the measure will likely need 60 votes to overcome Democrats’ near certain filibuster.