DOE’s Wright Grilled by Lawmakers Over Impact of Staff Cuts

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday faced an onslaught of questions over how the department intends to meet energy demand and spur innovation while also reducing staff across multiple offices.

Wright testified before the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy to talk about the department’s proposed budget for fiscal 2026.

“Our priorities for the department are clear: to unleash a golden era of American energy dominance, strengthen our national security, and lead the world in innovation,” he said during the hearing.

“The president’s fiscal year 26 budget will ensure taxpayer resources are allocated appropriately and cost effectively,” Wright added.

President Donald Trump has sought to drastically cut both spending and staffing across the federal government, including at the Energy Department, while proposing an aggressive agenda to prioritize energy production. But Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday pointed out one of the hurdles to achieving DOE’s goals is the department’s continuous pattern of reducing staff.

The Department of Energy “threw open its doors to Elon Musk and his DOGE minions” and “Musk forced out more than 3,500 DOE staffers,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the full committee.

“Now the agency has lost experience and valuable personnel with critical expertise,” while “the Trump administration sends Congress a budget request that hollows out DOE even more,” he said.

It’s unclear exactly how many employees the department has cut so far, and the department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on how much it has reduced its staff. The Trump administration is attempting to reduce staffing across multiple departments in the federal government, however many of those cuts are on hold due to pending litigation.

At the same time, the president has issued multiple executive orders calling for more investment and research in energy sources like coal and nuclear.

In response to a question about the department’s reorganization efforts from Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), chair of the subcommittee, Wright said DOE is “full of a bunch of tremendous, hard working, committed men and women trying to better the direction for our country.”

However, “like with electricity prices, head count of the department grew over 20% during the last administration with only increasing costs of energy and no increase in the supply of electricity,” Wright said. “Clearly, that’s a trajectory we don’t want to go on.”

He continued to defend the staffing cuts, saying “we have followed a careful, thoughtful way to look at how we’re going to reorganize the department and to bring the head count more aligned with an appropriate budget for the times we’re in.”

“We have done this almost entirely through voluntary measures,” Wright said.

He said there has been “generous financial treatment” for people choosing to “move on to a different chapter in their career” and that other people are moving offices to “make sure we’re appropriately staffed in every office.”

“I think in the next few weeks we will probably get more clarity on exactly where the reorganization is going to end, but I think it’s been a great effort to align the people and the staffing with the mission we have at hand,” Wright said.