House Science Committee Questions DOE Science Chief About Agency Reorganization

Update as of 9:20 pm Dec. 16: Following the publication of this article, House Science Committee Democratic staff told FYI that DOE has not yet determined which Fusion Energy Sciences programs will be moved from the Office of Science to the Office of Fusion, aside from the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program and the INFUSE program. They also said it is unclear if the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations will continue to exist. The headline of this story has since been updated accordingly.

Basic research in quantum information science and fusion energy sciences will continue within the Department of Energy Office of Science, Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said at a House Science Committee hearing last week. Gil will oversee DOE’s newly created Office of Fusion and Office of AI and Quantum, which he said will focus on supporting companies to deliver “real” quantum capabilities and fusion power plants.

The hearing focused on the DOE-led Genesis Mission to develop AI, but also touched on major changes to DOE’s organization announced in November.

Gil said the work of the new offices will be “complementary” to the basic research in the Office of Science. “Sometimes people say, ‘Well, are you doing it in tension with the support of the basic science?’ We’re not. We’re saying, because we’ve succeeded in investing in that, we have the opportunity now to create an industry,” he said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills in the House and Senate this week to codify the new fusion office at DOE.

Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) asked Gil whether he supports a one-time $10 billion infusion of federal funds for fusion research and commercial demonstration, as recommended by the bipartisan Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy. Gil pointed to the DOE fusion roadmap released in October, which he said “lays out the infrastructure investments that we need to make as a department to complement the $9 billion of venture capital that has been invested into fusion energy.”

Lofgren said the huge amount of funds from the private sector is “wonderful,” but that federal funds are necessary for research that will benefit the entire industry. She also raised concerns about proposals to reallocate funds appropriated to fusion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which she said would be an illegal impoundment.

Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) asked Gil to comment on the National Quantum Initiative, which supports quantum information science research, student training, and standards development. The committee advanced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the NQI in the previous Congress, but the bill did not receive a vote in the full House. Both Babin and Lofgren have expressed eagerness to update the NQI.

Gil said he is “very enthusiastic” about reauthorizing the NQI. “We’re in the fortunate position that now we can also build quantum computers and realize the dream of this field. So what I would also hope is we get a chance to do both: support quantum information science and deliver our capability,” he added.

Plan for some offices remains murky

The new organization chart does not include several previous offices, such as the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled his desire to shutter OCED earlier this year.

Gil said OCED will not be eliminated but will be integrated into a different office, and that he did not have details on EERE or any other offices outside his purview.

Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) said he expects Gil to provide projected headcounts and previous headcounts for each office on the organization chart. “We want to make sure that its capacity is there, not just that there’s a place on the org chart,” Foster said.

Lofgren criticized Wright for not testifying before the committee, saying “there must be accountability” for actions at DOE this year, including “the mass firings and coerced departures of dedicated experts throughout DOE, the illegal elimination of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, insanely inaccurate statements regarding the role that renewables play in ensuring the reliability of our electric grid, [and] the widely debunked climate ‘science’ report that the secretary commissioned.”

“I am happy to hear from you today, Dr. Gil, but Secretary Wright really has a responsibility to respond to our inquiries on each of these matters himself,” Lofgren added.

Wright was scheduled to appear before the committee on Sept. 18 but canceled, and was rescheduled to appear on Oct. 15 but could not due to the federal government shutdown, Lofgren and Babin said. Babin added that Wright will testify before the committee early next year.