THIRD IN A SERIES OF HEARINGS ON ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY WASTEFUL AND EXCESSIVE SPENDING

WASHINGTON, APRIL 17, 2012 – “Earlier this year, President Obama proposed a budget of $27.2 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE), $856 million above the previous year’s level and up from $15 billion in 2000,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  “This does not include the $35 billion DOE received in stimulus funding for such programs as the loan guarantee to Solyndra.  Our current debt crisis requires controlling federal spending, and President Obama pledged to conduct a line-by-line review of the federal budget to reduce unnecessary spending.  This hearing will evaluate DOE’s spending-reduction initiatives.”

On Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing entitled “Budget and Spending Concerns at DOE.”

Witnesses:

Christopher Johns, Director, Office of Budget, U.S. Department of Energy; Gregory H. Friedman, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy; and Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Government Accountability Office.