Energy Secretary Chris Wright discusses the benefits of global warming and the effort to expand nuclear power on ‘Varney & Co.’
America’s refreshed Department of Energy (DOE) under President Donald Trump has allegedly found more wasteful spending, as other budget-cutting actions have taken place in various federal agencies.
Department of Energy press secretary and chief spokesperson Ben Dietderich exclusively told Fox News Digital that they have identified and canceled more than $124 million, « from millions of dollars of DEI contracts to ridiculously expensive multi-million-dollar Politico news subscriptions » and other nonessential line items.
« And we are just getting started, » Dietderich said in a statement. « While some of the funds have already been obligated, we expect immediate savings of at least $65 million and more to come in the coming months and years. President Trump and Secretary Wright are fully committed to making government more accountable, efficient, and restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s dollars. »
« This [is] simply adding nothing of value to the American people, » DOE Secretary Chris Wright said in a Wednesday interview on « Varney & Co. »
« So we’ve cut out some needless expenditures, and we’re doing everything we can to become better stewards of American taxpayer moneys without sacrificing the DOE mission, » he continued. « In fact, we want to expand the DOE mission, but do it all at [a] lower cost and more efficiently. That’s how businesses run. »
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The update from the Energy Department comes in the same week it announced it dismissed nearly 50 nuclear security office employees as the Trump administration pushes to cut wasteful spending across agencies.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright talked about alleged spending waste and fraud within his agency on « Varney & Co. » (FOXBusiness)
« The previous administration was not a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars: In just four years, the Biden administration expanded the Department of Energy’s federal workforce by more than 20% — adding more than 3,000 federal employee positions, » Dietderich expanded via email.
« In the last year alone, the Biden administration increased the size of the Energy Department federal workforce with 1,000 new employees, » he added. « Delivering on President Trump’s mandate supported by more than 77 million Americans, the Energy Department began last week dismissing a portion of recently hired federal employees classified in the federal government as ‘probationary employees.’ »
Energy Secretary Chris Wright explains President Donald Trump’s energy agenda on ‘Making Money.’
Also in Wednesday’s interview with Stuart Varney, the energy secretary added that the Biden administration’s Green New Deal is in the process of being « killed off, » and there is an increasing focus on lowering energy and oil costs under Trump.
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« President Trump was elected to bring common sense back to Washington. And boy, he’s doing that in grand style. Think of the American dream, » Wright said. « The American dream is [that] your children are going to have better lives than you. We’ve had four years of making energy more expensive and getting in the way of this next generation from realizing the American dream. »
« Absolutely, we want all energy sources that can lower the cost of energy, expand job opportunities and have more stuff made in America. That requires more energy and lower-cost energy, » he added.
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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
