House Spending Plans Would Increase Pollution, Harming Americans’ Health and Raising Energy Costs

It’s appropriations season again—the time when Congress works to fund the federal government. Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee have been advancing several spending bills that would cut programs and services critical to reducing pollution. These deep cuts work against the best interests of the American people, putting their health and safety at risk and driving up their energy costs. The proposals would only serve to benefit the oil and gas industry, raising their profits and giving them a free pass to continue polluting. Through his fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, President Donald Trump has made it clear that he has no intention to follow through on his promise to deliver the “cleanest air and water on the planet.” Rather than fighting for their constituents, some Republican members of the House appear to be following suit.

Proposed spending cuts threaten clean air, safe drinking water, and public health

Over the past seven months, the Trump administration has worked to dismantle years of progress toward reducing pollution, abandoning key programs that help keep the nation’s air and water clean. It’s clear that water pollution is harmful to public health. Likewise, air pollution from transportation, industrial facilities, and power plants is a major threat to Americans’ health, as it is associated with cardiac problems, cancer, asthma, and increased mortality rates. Yet in the House appropriations proposal for 2026, Republican appropriators would make even deeper cuts to pollution-reducing measures that Americans rely on.

On July 22, the House Appropriations Committee approved its Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, which proposed significant cuts to offices and programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Interior (DOI). The bill proposes eliminating funding for the Atmospheric Protection Program—which encompasses much of the EPA’s work on climate change—with the exception of the Energy Star program. This proposal, combined with ongoing staff reductions and the repeal of the endangerment finding, would make it even more difficult to combat the climate crisis. Climate change is already affecting the health and safety of Americans, from the life-threatening impacts of extreme heat to the increasingly dangerous wildfires and hurricanes causing widespread damage. The Interior appropriations bill also proposes eliminating environmental justice initiatives, which would leave communities already overburdened by toxic pollution to continue to bear the brunt of these impacts. And notably, the proposed cuts come on the heels of the Trump administration granting dozens of coal power plants and other large polluters a two-year exemption from following regulations for several toxic air pollutants.

The bill also proposes a 19 percent cut in funding for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), which helps states meet safe drinking water standards, as well as a 25 percent cut from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps states improve water infrastructure. The DWSRF funds, in particular, help protect consumers from exposure to lead in drinking water and the long-lasting health problems it poses for children, as well as the heart disease and reproductive health risks it poses for adults. In total, this would be the lowest level of funding for the state revolving funds since 2008. Yet the true cut to what each state can spend is even deeper, as the bill earmarked about half of the funding to be used for specific projects requested by Congress members—a practice that can lead to inequitable distribution of funds. As there were no earmarks in last year’s budget, this equates to reducing funding for states by $1.7 billion, a more than 60 percent cut for each state and territory.

At the same time, the Interior appropriations bill, along with the recently passed appropriations bill for Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, proposes cutting funding from programs that clean up radioactive and hazardous waste. These bills would eliminate funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ program to clean up sites contaminated by the U.S. atomic energy program, reduce funding for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear site cleanup work, and cut funding for the EPA’s work to clean up hazardous waste nearly in half.

In addition, the Interior appropriations bill prohibits the use of funding to implement multiple pollution limits, including:

• Methane emission limits and fees for oil and gas companies, which the OBBBA has already postponed for a decade
• Recent vehicle emissions limits for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles
• Action to address serious health risks from PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” associated with farms using sewage sludge

These programs and pollution limits are the result of decades of scientific research and progress to ensure the federal government supports Americans’ right to clean water and clean air. Cutting these essential services will have both immediate and long-term consequences for the health of all Americans.

Cuts to clean energy and energy efficiency programs will raise household costs and jeopardize grid reliability

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill, which passed committee on July 17, proposes deep cuts to clean energy and energy efficiency programs that help reduce utility costs for American families. This follows last month’s passage of the OBBBA, which is already projected to raise gasoline costs and household energy expenses as early as next year.

The appropriations bill would slash funding for the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program nearly in half. This includes funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program, which reduces energy costs for low-income households by increasing their energy efficiency. In addition, Republican appropriators have proposed cutting research funding for new energy technologies at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and reducing support for commercializing technology advances through the elimination of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. The DOE’s Grid Deployment Office and Office of Electricity, which work to keep our energy grid reliable and resilient, would also suffer deep cuts. Finally, the bill would revoke more than $5 billion in resources from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that support clean energy technologies and energy improvements in public schools.

House appropriators have yet to release their proposed budget for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides essential support for households that struggle to pay their electricity bills. The president’s budget calls for eliminating it completely. At a time when extreme heat waves are becoming increasingly frequent and dangerous, this would cut off often lifesaving assistance to roughly 6 million very low-income households that rely on the program to heat and cool their homes. Notably, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s version of the bill rejected Trump’s elimination of LIHEAP, instead proposing a $20 million increase to the program. The House should follow the Senate’s lead as it moves toward a final bill.

Conclusion

These latest proposed cuts are part of the troubling pattern over the past six months, as the majority in the House of Representatives continues to prioritize the interests of fossil-fuel polluters at the expense of Americans’ health and household budgets. As Congress moves toward a final funding bill for 2026, it is essential that it maintain, if not increase, the pollution-reduction measures and clean energy programs that safeguard Americans’ health and wallets.

The author would like to thank Lucero Marquez, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Trevor Higgins, Jill Rosenthal, Cathleen Kelly, and Sophie Conroy of the Center for American Progress for their contributions to this analysis.