The White House not only wants to crack down on officials telling reporters about potential cuts to the energy and environment budgets, but also doesn’t want journalists reporting on the “specifics” of internal discussions before the budget is made public next week.
“The budget blueprint will be released in mid-March,” said John Czwartacki, communications director for the White House Office of Management and Budget. “It would be premature for us to comment on — or anyone to report — the specifics of this internal discussion before its publication,” he said.
“The president and his Cabinet are working collaboratively as we speak to create a budget that keeps the president’s promises to secure the country and prioritize taxpayer funds,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the Energy Department’s clean energy office was expected to be cut by at least $700 million from its current $2.1 billion, or one-third.
Democrats such as Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, voted against the confirmation of Energy Secretary Rick Perry because of concerns that he would help implement a plan pushed by the conservative Heritage Foundation to curtail many of the agency’s core programs.
But Czwartacki’s comments seem to imply that the White House may not have settled on the cuts.
Scott Sklar, a long-time Washington clean energy consultant, said the next eight days will tell if the Energy Department cuts will stick.
The latest is that Perry “is fighting” the Office of Managment and Budget “to get cuts within acceptable limits,” but “We’ll see,” Sklar wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner. “It’s the next eight days that will determine the play.”
It wouldn’t be strange for Perry to fight the cuts. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who was also sworn in last week, said he was “unhappy” with the cuts he has seen for his budget, and vowed to fight the administration to ensure the agency has the funding to do its job right.
“I looked at the budget,” Zinke said last week. “I’m not happy.”
“But we’re going to fight about it. And I think I’m going to win at the end of the day, and make sure that our values are articulated … and make sure that the administration understands.”
