During a blistering Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) was visibly floored after Energy Secretary Christopher Wright dropped a bombshell: the Department of Energy handed out a staggering $93 billion in loans and commitments during the final 76 days of the Biden administration, a figure that more than doubled the loan total from the previous 15 years combined.
Kennedy, in classic fashion, drilled in with precision. “The 76-day period you’re talking about, that’s the period between the time that President Trump was elected and President Biden left office. Is that right?”
“That is correct,” Wright confirmed.
Kennedy didn’t mince words when he asked how any agency could properly vet such massive spending in such a short window. “How do you do due diligence on one loan, much less $93 billion?” he asked.
Wright’s answer was damning.
“I think it’s probably pretty clear it wasn’t done in many cases,” he said. “There were commitments made from businesses that provided no business plan, no numbers about their own financial solvency, or how this project actually worked.”
The senator appeared almost incredulous and asked for clarity: “So, so you’re telling me that the Department of Energy in the 76-day period before their boss was gonna leave office, gave or loaned money to, to entities that had no business plan?”
“Correct,” Wright replied bluntly.
“No financials?” Kennedy asked.
“Correct,” Wright told him. “I’ve come in with great concern about how this institution, this great American institution, has been run and how American taxpayer money has been handled.”
Wright also acknowledged that his department is now conducting a sweeping review of those loans and grants.
“We are… and yeah, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about what we have seen and what did happen at the department.”
“Does anybody ever come to the Department of Energy to get some of this free money and lie to you?” Kennedy asked.
While Wright said he hadn’t experienced that yet, he said it was “a reasonable assumption that that has happened.”
Kennedy raised concerns about the nature of applicants who sought these funds, pointing out the potential for fraud.
“Is it conceivable that some of these folks… came to you with a half-baked idea?”
“Very conceivable,” Wright told him. “In fact, I’ve seen such plans… that didn’t have a business plan — just a promise to develop one later.”
What shocked Kennedy most wasn’t just the lack of oversight but the arrogance of it all: “They were spending money at the Department of Energy like it was ditchwater,” he said, noting the department’s ballooning budget. “Their budget went from $60 billion to $160 billion since fiscal year 2021.”
Wright didn’t defend the indefensible. He pledged to turn down wasteful projects and refer “the thieves” to the Department of Justice. “They shouldn’t be upset,” he said. “They should be ashamed.”
Kennedy then issued a warning. “It just sounds to me like there were a lot of people coming to the Department of Energy who had all four feet and their snout in the trough,” he said. “I hope you’ll take whatever time you need to go through these projects penny by penny.”
For sure, this is nothing short of a disgraceful scandal: $93 billion in taxpayer money that the Biden administration shoveled out the door in a frantic 76-day window, with no business plans, no financials, no accountability. This wasn’t economic policy; it was cronyism, a political feeding frenzy disguised as governance. The Department of Energy handed out loans like party favors to whoever showed up with their hand out, while the American people were left in the dark. This is one of the most brazen abuses of public funds we’ve ever seen, and we cannot allow it to stand.
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