Biden-Harris Admin Races To Dish Out $25 Billion for Green Energy Before Trump Takes Office, Sparking Fraud Fears
Frantic pace ‘only increases the risk for Solyndra style waste and abuse,’ House Energy chair warns
President Joe Biden speaks on Earth Day (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Thomas Catenacci
November 22, 2024
The Biden administration is in a hurry to finalize more than a dozen green energy loans worth more than $25 billion before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in mid-January—a frantic effort that lawmakers and industry officials are warning could lead to fraud and abuse of taxpayer money.
FreeBeacon
Through the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, the administration is working to finalize a total of 16 pending loans worth a total of $25.1 billion, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found. Those loans figure to be in serious jeopardy—Trump repeatedly vowed to “terminate” green energy spending on the campaign trail—and, in recent weeks, Biden officials have picked up the pace finalizing pending commitments.
Over the last two months, the Loan Programs Office closed on seven loans worth $5.9 billion, including two that were closed after the election. Those two loans went to EV battery component plants in Michigan and New York. By comparison, the office closed on five loans worth $6.5 billion during the prior 27 months.
The quick pace carries risks, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.) told the Free Beacon.
“Now that the election is over, the Biden administration wants to triple the amount of money passed out to politically connected firms,” Barrasso said. “Congress and the incoming Trump administration will act to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted on insider payoffs and green pipe dreams.”
“President Biden’s Department of Energy is rushing billions of dollars out the door as a last-ditch effort to advance its failing rush-to-green agenda,” added McMorris Rodgers. “This effort only increases the risk for Solyndra style waste and abuse—which is why the administration should immediately end its reckless spending spree.”
Early in the Obama administration, the Loan Programs Office was responsible for providing $535 million to solar panel maker Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy just two years later. Solyndra has since become synonymous with wasteful federal spending and is often cited by critics as a cautionary tale when Congress earmarks taxpayer funding for new green energy programs.