House Passes Appropriations Bill Slashing Budgets of EPA and DOI

November 7, 2023

Friday morning, the House passed an appropriations bill to slash the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Interior (DOI). H.R. 4821, The Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides 35% less funding for the fiscal 2024 budget.

E&E News reports, 

“Following several days of wide-ranging debate and wrangling over more than 100 amendments, the GOP-controlled House approved the $25.4 billion bill by a 213 to 203 margin. Three Republicans voted against the bill, and one Democrat voted for it.”

The bill would also retract $9.4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding provided to EPA, the Presidio Trust and the Council on Environmental Quality. This is great to see, as the IRA had little to do with reducing inflation but was really a climate bill.

“One thing that all Republicans agree on is that we’ve got to reduce spending. The debate occurs on how much and how fast,”’ said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chair of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee…EPA would be subject to a steep cut of nearly 40 percent — down to $6.2 billion. The Department of the Interior would be funded at $14.3 billion, slicing its budget by $677 million. Simpson also touted the bill’s efforts to ease regulatory burdens and boost energy production.”

We applaud House members for recognizing when American families are struggling and fighting back against this administration’s harmful policies and wasteful spending. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration, where its fate is uncertain.