{"id":1917031,"date":"2023-04-20T05:40:22","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T09:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/energy-department-struggling-to-monitor-billions-in-spending-after-budget-doubles\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T05:45:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T09:45:39","slug":"energy-department-struggling-to-monitor-billions-in-spending-after-budget-doubles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/energy-department-struggling-to-monitor-billions-in-spending-after-budget-doubles\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Department Struggling to Monitor Billions in Spending After Budget Doubles"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fenergy-department-struggling-to-monitor-billions-in-spending-after-budget-doubles%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1917031&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0419\/fc17abbf-d792-4858-84c7-e480ae4dc978\/audio.mp3?length=9311661&#038;duration=776\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is congressionally mandated to spend $32 million each day for the next 1,261 days to \u201cexhaust\u201d nearly $500 billion before a Sept. 30, 2026, deadline authorized under four Biden administration economic stimulus bills adopted since 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Two bills don\u2019t include funding for compliance assurance, while the other two earmark marginal allocations for fraud detection within \u201cadministrative cost\u201d allowances.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, DOE\u2019s Office of Inspector General (OIG) is \u201ctoo under-resourced for oversight\u201d in monitoring spending approved under the same four measures that usher in an \u201cunprecedented expansion in the department\u2019s funding and mission,\u201d DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson told a congressional panel during an April 18 hearing.<\/p>\n<p>At a House oversight hearing with the Department of Energy, Donaldson and DOE Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Kathleen Hogan testified on how the department has handled spending during the past two years since its budget more than doubled.<\/p>\n<p>Donaldson and Hogan lobbied for a $1.6 billion boost for OIG manpower and resources across all federal departments.<\/p>\n<p>If approved, DOE\u2019s OIG could access a $150 million fund to augment the department\u2019s $165.2 million FY24 budget request for its OIG contingent, which Donaldson said is nearly $17 million short of what she estimates is needed to track compliance as spending swells in coming years.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line, Donaldson said, is too much money came\u2014and is still coming\u2014too fast for undermanned inspectors general to adequately scrutinize. This is especially true for the DOE, which saw its annual budget balloon from $44.3 billion in 2022 to more than $128 billion in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>She said the four Biden administration bills create 71 new programs, \u201ca staggering number,\u201d which will just be getting off the ground in the coming year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is a dramatic increase\u201d in spending without corresponding enhancement in scrutiny, subcommittee chair Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said. \u201cUsing the IG\u2019s own words, \u2018That\u2019s a lot of money moving fast.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fallon and the other eight Republicans on the 15-member panel said fraud and waste were virtually assured under \u201cBiden\u2019s spending spree\u201d after the rapid adoptions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act), and 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act\u2019s Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund.<\/p>\n<p>The OIG, DOE, and other federal agencies are proposing reforms in how they monitor spending, but the proverbial cow has left the barn, Fallon said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHundreds of billions of dollars shoved out the door and into, in many cases, the hands of criminals and fraudsters,\u201d he said, noting the 71 new DOE programs present \u201ca lot of new risk [for taxpayers]. That is a danger cocktail.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5053254\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/02\/13\/GettyImages-1461367364-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)\u00a0 delivers remarks during a hearing in Washington in February 2023. (Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>Budget Balloons to $128 Billion in One Year<\/h2>\n<p>The IIJA appropriated more than $62 billion over five years to DOE, with most of those funds available through FY31 to establish 60 new programs, including 16 demonstration and 32 deployment projects, under the direction of a newly created Undersecretary of Energy for Infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>In FY24, up to $52 billion of IIJA funding, or more than 83 percent, will be disbursed in grants, with most awarded to states, local governments, and tribes. In FY21, Donaldson noted, DOE disbursed $3.9 billion in grants.<\/p>\n<p>The DOE OIG was \u201calready significantly underfunded\u201d but was left with little additional capacity\u2014.10 percent, or one-tenth of 1 percent funding increase\u2014to follow a landslide of money from the IIJA, also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).<\/p>\n<p>The IRA appropriated $35 billion for DOE programs, including 15 new ones, with funding available between FY26 and FY31.<\/p>\n<p>The IRA \u201csignificantly expanded [DOE\u2019s] loan authorities such that the total of all existing department loan authorities, including those contained in IIJA and IRA, is now estimated at $350 billion,\u201d Donaldson said.<\/p>\n<p>The IRA appropriated $20 million to DOE\u2019s OIG, or just .05 percent of the appropriation, although the bill provides \u201csome additional flexibility on administrative expenses,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>DOE has made $37.8 billion available from the IIJA, with $11 billion awarded or selected for negotiation, and $7.1 billion available from the IRA with $1.6 billion awarded or selected for negotiation, Donaldson said, with much more to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis longer-term, infrastructure-focused mandate\u201d differs from usual infrastructure funding, Hogan explained, which is \u201cmore focused on shovel-ready projects\u201d than with research and development initiatives that constitute significant components of the four measures.<\/p>\n<p>The CHIPS Act authorized $67 billion in spending for DOE\u2019s Office of Science and other research and development projects at DOE laboratories nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf this $67 billion, $30.5 billion represents an expansion of their existing authorization,\u201d Donaldson said, noting she will be seeking a .35 percent administrative cost fee \u201con those funds to conduct appropriate oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress added $1 billion to DOE appropriations to provide grants to the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund to be managed by a new Grid Deployment Office.<\/p>\n<p>There was no provision for DOE OIG oversight in the CHIPS Act or the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund, Donaldson said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5185535\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/11\/id5185535-NerdWallet_Millennial_Money_Bank_Bonus_Tax_23094446065422-1200x800.jpeg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Adding more than $128 billion in authorized direct appropriations and $350 billion in loans to manage an already stressed oversight scenario virtually ensured that \u201cmany program-specific risks will emerge and create enormous challenges for the department,\u201d DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson told a congressional panel during an April 18 hearing.\u00a0 (Matt Slocum\/AP Photo)<\/figure>\n<h2>DOE Already Plagued With \u2018Lack of Oversight Resources\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Even before this \u201cunprecedented expansion in the department\u2019s funding and mission,\u201d DOE already had a \u201chigh-risk portfolio,\u201d with approximately 90 percent of its annual budget dispersed to contractors and 30 percent of that disseminated to subcontractors.<\/p>\n<p>Donaldson said there have been \u201cnumerous reports issued over the years by the OIG and the Government Accountability Office [GAO]\u201d citing DOE\u2019s \u201clack of oversight resources in particular areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said the OIG\/GAO reports documenting lapses in oversight typically induced DOE\u2019s \u201cconcurrence that it lacked the resources\u201d to properly monitor money as it was going out the door.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2022, the OIG wrote to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm explaining that the department\u2019s oversight capacity was inadequate to \u201cproperly oversee appropriated funds and loan authorities\u201d under the IIJA, IRA, and CHIPS Act.<\/p>\n<p>OIG identified a series of special reports that detail DOE\u2019s \u201crisks of insufficient federal staffing, potential conflicts of interest, recipient fraud, and inadequate internal controls,\u201d among other issues.<\/p>\n<p>Those reports showed \u201ckey oversight functions such as invoice reviews were not performed due to limited staffing and heavy workloads of project oversight officials,\u201d House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Fallon said in a March 29 letter to Granholm.<\/p>\n<p>Comer and Fallon identified \u201calarming signs of waste, fraud, and abuse\u201d in three DOE offices\u2014the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and the Vehicles Technology Office.<\/p>\n<p>Donaldson and Hogan did not contest the fact that DOE\u2019s compliance monitoring was already suspect when it got buried in money.<\/p>\n<p>Adding more than $128 billion in auth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is congressionally mandated to spend $32 million each day for the next 1,261 days to \u201cexhaust\u201d nearly $500 billion before a Sept. 30, 2026, deadline authorized under four Biden administration economic stimulus bills adopted since 2021. Two bills don\u2019t include funding for compliance assurance, while the other two earmark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":1917032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[11154,4463,4724,11639,4486,9771,3834,5369],"class_list":["post-1917031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-billions","tag-budget","tag-department","tag-doubles","tag-energy","tag-monitor","tag-spending","tag-struggling"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1917031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1917032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1917031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1917031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}