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DOGE Energy Tracker

Tracking the Department of Government Efficiency's impact on U.S. energy policy, the cuts, the consequences, and whether "efficiency" is actually efficient.

Last updated: March 2026 · Sources: DOE, CRS, OMB, Holland & Knight, E&E News, Latitude Media, AP News

What is DOGE? The Department of Government Efficiency, established by Executive Order on January 20, 2025, was led by Elon Musk and tasked with cutting federal spending. Originally targeting $2 trillion in savings, then $1 trillion, then $150 billion: DOGE operated for 10 months before departing Washington in late 2025. The Department of Energy was one of its primary targets. This tracker follows the ripple effects.

-$6.8B
DOE Budget Cut Proposed
FY2026 request: $54.4B vs $61.3B enacted FY2025 (-11%)
~3,000+
DOE Jobs Cut or At Risk
700 probationary + thousands via RIF; OCED from 200→10
$7.5B
Projects Terminated
223 projects across OCED, EERE, GDO, ARPA-E, FE
LPO
Loan Programs Preserved
$750M new credit + $30B new loan authority for nuclear

DOE Budget Tracker: Before & After DOGE

The FY2026 budget request reflects a fundamental reorientation of DOE. shifting from clean energy deployment toward baseload power, nuclear, and supply chain security. Here's what each office faces.

■ FY2025 Enacted ■ FY2026 Proposed
EERE
$3.46B→$888M
ARPA-E
$460M→$200M
Grid Deploy.
$60M→$15M
Fossil Energy
$862M→$595M
Office of Science
$8.3B→$7.1B
OCED
Active→$0 new
Office / Program FY2025 Enacted FY2026 Request Change Status
Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)
Solar, wind, hydrogen, industrial efficiency, weatherization
 $3.46B $888M −74% Solar, wind, hydrogen zeroed out. Focus narrowed to geothermal, hydropower, biofuels, critical minerals
ARPA-E
High-risk, high-reward energy R&D
 $460M $200M −57% Survives but halved. Focus shifted to "firm, reliable power" and competitiveness
Grid Deployment Office (GDO)
Transmission expansion, grid resilience, GRIP program ($10.5B)
 $60M $15M −75% Will rely on unobligated IIJA balances for existing projects
Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED)
$26.8B in clean energy demo projects awarded since 2022
 Active $0 new WIND DOWN $3.7B rescinded. 223 projects terminated. Staff cut from 200+ to 10. $1.4B IIJA balance remains
Loan Programs Office (LPO)
Funded Vogtle, Palisades restart, clean energy financing
 Active $750M new PRESERVED+ Full lending authority kept. $750M new credit subsidy for SMR/advanced nuclear. Up to $30B new loan authority
Nuclear Energy
Advanced reactors, fuel cycle, SMR development
 $1.35B $1.37B +1.5% One of few programs to see an increase. Clear administration priority
Office of Science
Basic research, national labs, 17 facilities
 $8.3B $7.1B −14% Cuts to bio/environmental research. AI, quantum, fusion emphasized
Fossil Energy
Oil, gas, coal, carbon management, critical minerals
 $862M $595M −31% "Carbon Management" dropped from name. CCS shifted to enhanced oil recovery
CESER (Cybersecurity & Emergency Response)
Grid cyber defense, emergency coordination
 $200M $150M −25% Continues threat R&D and emergency response. Cut but operational
Office of Electricity (OE)
Grid modernization, transmission reliability, resilience
 $280M $193M −31% R&D for grid controls and reliability continues at reduced level

Key takeaway: The budget reflects a clear pivot, nuclear and baseload power win, renewables and clean energy deployment lose. The Loan Programs Office not only survived DOGE but got expanded authority, largely because it funds nuclear projects the administration supports. OCED and EERE took the deepest cuts.

Regulatory Actions Timeline

A chronological record of DOGE and administration actions affecting energy policy, from the first executive order to project terminations.

January 20, 2025
DOGE Executive Order Signed
EO establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to "modernize Federal technology and software." DOGE teams begin entering agencies within days. Initiative set to terminate July 4, 2026.
Executive Order
January 20, 2025
"Unleashing American Energy" EO
Executive Order 14154 declares national energy emergency, prioritizes fossil fuels, and begins unwinding Biden-era clean energy policies. Sets the ideological framework for DOE cuts to come.
Executive Order
January 31, 2025
"Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation" EO
Establishes 10-for-1 regulatory requirement, agencies must repeal 10 regulations for every new one. Agencies given 60 days to identify "unlawful regulations." Wide-reaching impact on energy rule-making.
Executive Order
February 2025
DOE Funding Freeze
Administration pauses disbursements across DOE programs. Clean energy grants, weatherization funding, and IRA implementation stall. Uncertainty ripples through project pipelines.
Funding Pause
February 13-14, 2025
DOGE Teams Enter DOE; Mass Probationary Firings
Three DOGE representatives visit DOE. Within days, ~700 probationary employees are dismissed across the department, including 350 from NNSA (nuclear weapons security). Immediate blowback over national security implications. Up to 2,000 of DOE's 16,000+ employees potentially affected.
Staff Cuts
March 2025
Palisades Loan Disbursement Continues
DOE approves $57M disbursement under the Palisades nuclear plant restart loan guarantee, signaling that nuclear-focused LPO lending would continue despite broader cuts. Total disbursed reaches ~$491M of $1.52B commitment.
Nuclear
March 2025
DOGE Cost Efficiency EO
Orders agencies to identify all termination rights under existing leases and contracts within 30 days. Agencies must catalog government-owned real property and potential savings.
Executive Order
April 4, 2025
DOE Identifies Thousands of "Nonessential" Positions
AP reports that DOE has flagged thousands of positions as nonessential and at risk of DOGE-driven cuts. Reduction-in-force (RIF) planning accelerates across clean energy offices.
Staff Cuts
April 9, 2025
Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting for Energy
EO imposes "zero-based regulatory budgeting" requiring agencies to justify every energy regulation from scratch. All existing energy regulations effectively put on trial. Determinations to remove regulations count toward the 10-for-1 requirement.
Executive Order
April 2025
OCED Cut List Emerges
Under DOGE pressure, DOE begins weighing termination of $9+ billion in OCED projects. Sierra Club reports internal recommendations to cancel dozens of clean energy demonstration projects. Secretary Wright testifies no cut lists exist, weeks before the cuts are announced.
Program Cuts
April 24, 2025
Mass DOE Layoffs End the "Quiet Limbo"
Sweeping RIF layoffs hit DOE. Multiple offices see significant staff reductions. OCED workforce cut from 200+ to approximately 10 employees, a 95% reduction. Cuts align with Project 2025 playbook calling for elimination of OCED, ARPA-E, GDO, EERE, and LPO.
Staff Cuts
May 2025
Trump Signs 4 Nuclear Executive Orders
EOs direct NRC to work with DOGE on reorganization focused on new reactor licensing. Accelerates SMR and advanced reactor deployment. Directs DOE to expand domestic uranium enrichment. NRC mission revised per ADVANCE Act to avoid "unnecessarily burdening" energy deployment.
Nuclear
May 30, 2025
DOE Terminates 223 Projects, $7.5B
Energy Secretary Wright announces termination of 223 projects totaling over $7.5 billion across OCED, EERE, GDO, MESC, ARPA-E, and Fossil Energy. Includes 24 OCED projects worth $3.7B. DOE calls them lacking "economic viability." Critics call it gutting American competitiveness.
Program Cuts
May 30, 2025
FY2026 Full Budget Reorients DOE
Budget details reveal 26% cut to non-defense energy programs. EERE cut 74%, ARPA-E 57%, GDO 75%. LPO preserved with $750M new credit subsidy for nuclear SMRs. Nuclear Energy gets slight increase. Fossil Energy renamed (drops "Carbon Management"). Clear pivot to baseload and supply chains.
Budget
November 24, 2025
Genesis Mission: DOE Leads AI Initiative
EO 14363 directs DOE to lead "Genesis Mission": combining AI capabilities with energy infrastructure. Signals DOE's reorientation toward AI-supporting baseload power rather than clean energy deployment.
Executive Order
December 2025
DOGE Departs Washington
After 10 turbulent months, DOGE operations wind down. Independent analyses estimate DOGE cuts actually cost taxpayers $135 billion (IRS alone projected $500B+ in lost revenue). The Guardian reports 154,000+ federal employees were put on paid administrative leave in 2025: costing $10B.
Assessment

Impact Assessment

What DOGE-era changes mean for the four pillars of U.S. energy: nuclear, renewables, grid reliability, and consumers.

Nuclear Energy
WINNER. Expanded Support

Nuclear is the clearest beneficiary of the DOE reorientation.

  • LPO preserved and expanded: $750M new credit subsidy + up to $30B in new loan authority specifically for SMRs and advanced reactors
  • Palisades restart continues: $491M+ disbursed of $1.52B commitment. Loan guarantees flowing despite broader freezes
  • Nuclear Energy budget flat/up: $1.37B request, one of few programs to see an increase
  • 4 nuclear EOs signed: NRC directed to prioritize new reactor licensing; DOGE to help reorganize NRC; uranium enrichment expansion ordered
  • Risk: If DOGE had succeeded in killing LPO (as Project 2025 recommended), Palisades and future nuclear financing would be endangered. LPO survived because of nuclear, not despite it
Renewables & Clean Energy
AT RISK. Deep Cuts

Clean energy programs bore the brunt of DOGE-era cuts.

  • EERE gutted: 74% budget cut. Solar, wind, and hydrogen R&D zeroed out entirely
  • OCED functionally eliminated: $3.7B rescinded, 223 projects terminated, staff from 200+ to 10
  • IRA implementation stalled: Funding freezes disrupted weatherization, community energy programs, and grant disbursements
  • ARPA-E halved: From $460M to $200M. Focus narrowed to "firm power" (i.e., not solar/wind)
  • What's left: Geothermal, hydropower, biofuels, and critical minerals R&D survive. IRA tax credits (separate from DOE) remain intact via legislation, though House reconciliation threatens some
Grid Reliability
MIXED. Reduced Oversight

Grid infrastructure faces a paradox: demand is surging (AI/data centers) while oversight is shrinking.

  • GDO cut 75%: From $60M to $15M. Will rely on unobligated IIJA balances for existing GRIP projects
  • CESER cut 25%: Cybersecurity and emergency response reduced to $150M. during increasing cyber threats to grid
  • Office of Electricity cut 31%: Grid modernization R&D reduced
  • FERC impacted: Zero-based regulatory budgeting and 10-for-1 deregulation affect energy market oversight
  • Bright spot: Nuclear EOs and LPO expansion could add firm baseload capacity that actually helps grid reliability long-term
  • Risk: Less staff to oversee interconnection queues, transmission planning, and grid security at exactly the moment AI is adding unprecedented load
Consumers & Communities
AT RISK. Programs Cut

Consumer-facing energy programs took significant hits.

  • Weatherization Assistance Program: EERE cuts threaten the nation's largest residential energy efficiency program (serves ~35,000 homes/year)
  • State energy programs disrupted: Office of State and Community Energy Programs affected by funding freezes and staff cuts
  • Clean energy demos cancelled: Projects that would have brought jobs and energy investment to communities, terminated
  • IRA consumer incentives (tax credits): Heat pump, EV, solar credits remain in statute but some at risk in reconciliation
  • Rate impact unclear: Less grid investment could mean less reliability. Less renewables deployment could mean higher long-term costs as cheap solar/wind growth slows
  • Jobs displaced: DOE's EFI Foundation estimates staffing cuts created the largest budget-to-staff ratio in a decade, meaning more money but fewer people to deploy it

The DOGE Energy Scorecard

Not all cuts are created equal. Here's our assessment of each major DOGE/admin action, did it cut waste, or cut capability?

Efficiency Win, cut genuine waste Mixed, real tradeoffs Collateral Damage, cut something important
LPO Preserved + Expanded for Nuclear
Keeping the office that funded Vogtle and Palisades, and expanding it for SMRs, is smart industrial policy. LPO has a strong repayment record and fills a genuine market gap for capital-intensive energy projects. Project 2025 wanted it dead; the administration wisely kept it alive.
Efficiency Win
NRC Reorganization for Faster Licensing
NRC's licensing process is famously slow and expensive. Directing it to focus resources on new reactor licensing (while maintaining safety) could genuinely accelerate nuclear deployment. The ADVANCE Act already set this direction; the EOs reinforce it.
Efficiency Win
ARPA-E Budget Cut (−57%)
ARPA-E has a strong track record of spinning out successful technologies (including to companies the admin supports). Halving it saves $260M but risks killing the pipeline of innovations that become tomorrow's energy companies. The "firm power" focus makes sense but the cut is deeper than needed.
Mixed
10-for-1 Deregulation & Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting
Some energy regulations are genuinely outdated. But a blanket 10-for-1 ratio doesn't distinguish between harmful red tape and protective safeguards. Could speed up permitting (good for all energy, including nuclear and renewables) but could also weaken environmental and safety protections.
Mixed
Office of Science Cut (−14%)
A 14% cut to the largest funder of physical science research is significant but not catastrophic. Emphasis on AI, quantum, and fusion makes strategic sense. The concern: biological and environmental research cuts could affect understanding of climate and energy system impacts.
Mixed
OCED Gutted: $3.7B Rescinded, 95% Staff Cut
OCED funded first-of-a-kind energy demonstrations, the projects too risky for private capital but essential for proving technologies work. Cutting it doesn't save money efficiently (projects were competitively awarded with cost-share). It kills the bridge between lab research and commercial deployment, including projects that would have benefited nuclear and hydrogen, technologies the admin claims to support.
Collateral Damage
EERE Cut 74%: Solar, Wind, Hydrogen Zeroed
Eliminating all R&D funding for solar, wind, and hydrogen cedes technological leadership to China, which is investing heavily in all three. Even if you oppose subsidies, federal R&D is how the U.S. stays competitive. These aren't deployment programs, they're research. The geothermal and hydropower R&D that survives is good but narrow.
Collateral Damage
NNSA Probationary Firings (350 from Nuclear Security)
Firing 350 people from the agency responsible for maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, without apparently understanding what they did, is the textbook case of DOGE moving faster than it understood. Many were rehired or reinstated after blowback. Cost efficiency: negative.
Collateral Damage
Grid Deployment Office Cut 75%
The U.S. needs massive transmission buildout to support AI data centers, electrification, and new generation (including nuclear). Cutting GDO by 75% while demand surges is penny-wise, pound-foolish. The GRIP program's $10.5B in grid resilience projects now has minimal staff to oversee them.
Collateral Damage
Paid Leave Costs: 154,000+ Federal Workers
Across the federal government, DOGE-driven actions put 154,000+ employees on paid administrative leave, costing an estimated $10 billion. Many were later reinstated or their firings reversed by courts. An independent analysis estimated total DOGE cuts actually cost taxpayers $135 billion. The efficiency initiative was not, by most measures, efficient.
Collateral Damage

Your Tax Dollars: What DOE Actually Spends Money On

DOE's ~$50B budget is often misunderstood. The majority goes to nuclear weapons and cleanup, not "Green New Deal" programs. Here's where the money actually goes.

DOE FY2025 Spending by Category
Total discretionary: ~$50.2B
National Nuclear Security Admin (NNSA)
$23.3B
46%
Office of Science
$8.3B
17%
Environmental Cleanup
$7.8B
16%
EERE + Clean Energy Programs
$4.5B
9%
Nuclear Energy
$1.35B
3%
Grid, Electricity, Cyber
$1.0B
2%
Everything Else
$3.9B
8%
The punchline: 63% of DOE's budget goes to nuclear weapons and cleaning up Cold War-era contamination. The "clean energy" spending DOGE targeted represents ~9% of DOE's total. The biggest DOE expense is maintaining 3,750 nuclear warheads, not windmills.

Key Sources & Coverage

Methodology & Sources

This tracker compiles publicly available data from government and independent sources. Budget figures come from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), OMB budget documents, and DOE's own budget justifications. Staff numbers come from AP, Newsweek, E&E News, and Brookings reporting. Scorecard ratings are editorial assessments by The Daily Mine based on available evidence.