Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal, released Friday, would cut billions of dollars in spending on renewable energy and climate change programs, Superfund cleanup, clean drinking water and environmental justice.
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The proposed budget cuts Environmental Protection Agency funding by more than half, cancels over $15 billion provided to the Energy Department through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act related to climate change activities and renewable energy, and redirects DOE funds to development of fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
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Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed the budget as “a bold blueprint that reflects the values of hard-working Americans,” while Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro called it “an all-out assault on our nation’s families, small businesses, and communities in every part of the country.”
Dive Insight:
Few agencies escaped the president’s spending cuts, which total $163 billion for the proposed fiscal year 2026 federal budget. Only the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation and Veterans Affairs see increases.
The budget proposal would reduce EPA’s operating budget by $4.6 billion, eliminating funding for climate change research and partnership, cutting $235 million from the EPA’s Office of Research and Development and eliminating its efforts to advance environmental justice.
At the DOE, $2.57 billion in cuts would eliminate clean energy research. The budget would also cut $1.5 billion from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations, infrastructure and satellites, stating it would cancel contracts for “unnecessary climate measurements”and programs that Trump claims are “harmful to America’s fishing industries.”
Last month, reacting to a leaked version of the Trump administration’s budget plan, Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman, ranking member the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, said in a public statement that the proposal was “a five-alarm fire for anyone who values public safety, coastal resilience, and the foundational science that underpins our nation’s weather forecasts, fisheries, and climate response.”
“The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY 2025 spending,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russell said in a letter to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Congress will ultimately decide how to allocate federal spending, but the president’s request provides a starting point.
