GOP’s Murkowski Doesn’t Want To Take ‘Hammer’ To Biden’s Expensive Green Energy Bill
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is working to preserve select provisions of former President Joe Biden’s landmark climate legislation as Republicans seek spending cuts to fund their reconciliation package, according to Politico.
Murkowski urged her party to adopt a “more cautious and conscientious approach” rather than wielding a “big hammer” to eliminate the green energy tax credits included in Biden’s trillion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The 2022 law, which passed without a single Republican vote, is now facing deep cuts as GOP lawmakers look for savings to support President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities, the Daily Caller reported.
Under the proposed Republican budget bill, House Republicans are aiming to slash billions in clean energy subsidies enacted during the Biden administration, including tax credits for electric vehicles and environmentally friendly home upgrades such as heat pumps, energy-efficient windows, and doors.
The proposal would phase out tax credits for hydrogen production, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear energy, a move that has sparked division among right-of-center energy policy experts. The bill also aims to eliminate “transferability,” a provision that allows project sponsors to transfer credits to third parties, and includes measures to prevent Chinese companies from benefiting from the subsidies.
“I’m pretty sure that there would be a fair number on that list, on the House side, who are hoping against hope that we in the Senate will work to soften that,” Murkowski told Politico.
She was one of four Republican senators who urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune in April to maintain specific energy tax credits in the IRA.
Murkowski, who has previously described herself as “not attached to the Republican label,” reportedly expressed concerns in April about possible retaliation from the Trump administration.
Despite supporting the vast majority of President Biden’s Cabinet nominees, she was one of only two Republicans who voted against the confirmation of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
If left unchanged, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is projected to cost taxpayers over $1 trillion by 2032 and as much as $4.7 trillion by 2050.
According to Politico, Sen. Lisa Murkowski warned that the proposed Republican rollbacks are too abrupt and could threaten green energy projects already in the pipeline, particularly in Alaska. Murkowski has previously criticized the Biden administration for a series of “anti-development decisions” affecting her state, including the withdrawal of large areas of resource-rich land from potential development and the retroactive cancellation of oil and gas leases.
Additionally, not all House Republicans support a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act. More than a dozen GOP lawmakers have issued a statement urging party leadership to take a more measured approach in revising the IRA’s tax credits.
At the same time, fiscal hawks within the Republican ranks are pushing for a complete dismantling of the law, calling for deep and sweeping cuts.
“The Inflation Reduction Act, better known as the Green New Scam, is providing massive, unlimited subsidies to billion-dollar corporations and Chinese manufacturers to the detriment of American energy freedom and dominance,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas previously told the Daily Caller. “If Republicans want to unleash American energy dominance and support the President’s energy agenda, we have no choice but to fully — and immediately — repeal the Green New Scam.”
But that may prove to be difficult, if not impossible.
The “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump has requested from Congress has been torpedoed by his own party, but the president has encouraged Republicans to keep working until they reach an agreement.
The legislation failed to pass the House Budget Committee on Friday as Republican Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Ralph Norman of South Carolina voted against the measure, Fox News reported.
House Budget Committee Chairman and Republican Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington has asked the committee to come back together on Sunday night at 10 p.m. for another vote.
