{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lofgren.house.gov/media/press-releases/lofgren-science-democrats-condemn-illegal-elimination-office-clean-energy", "Lofgren, Science Democrats Condemn Illegal Elimination of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Zoe Lofgren", "L000397", "lofgren.house.gov", "lofgren", "https://lofgren.house.gov/media/press-releases", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Science Committee Democratic Members sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright condemning the illegal elimination of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). OCED was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) with the purpose of cultivating the expertise required to provide high-quality, technology-independent management for large, commercially focused energy demonstration projects at DOE. The IIJA explicitly called for the establishment of OCED, and therefore DOE\u2019s elimination of this office is undeniably illegal. Not only that, the dissolution of OCED increases the likelihood of project failures and taxpayer losses related to large-scale energy demonstration projects under DOE\u2019s purview.\n\n\u201cIt is worth remembering why Congress created OCED, for it was not a random or careless decision,\u201d the Members wrote in their letter. \u201cIn the years preceding OCED\u2019s creation, Congress witnessed the existing technology offices within DOE repeatedly struggle to manage large-scale energy demonstration projects, particularly projects related to nuclear technologies and carbon capture and storage technologies. The track records of these offices in managing large demonstration projects were extremely poor.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen the Department of Energy (DOE) eliminated OCED in its reorganization, it did more than jeopardize multi-billion dollar demonstration programs and risk long-term setbacks in the deployment of innovative energy technologies that are crucial for the nation\u2019s energy future,\u201d the Members continued. \u201cDOE broke the law \u2013 brazenly, shamelessly broke the law \u2013 and violated the separation of powers that stands at the heart of our constitutional system. Every day that this defiance continues is a travesty. The only way for DOE to stop offending our constitutional order is to reverse course immediately, reconstitute OCED, and restore the rightful authorities that were assigned to it by Congress.\u201d\n\nThe letter was signed by Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Energy Subcommittee Ranking Member Deborah Ross (D-NC), and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lofgren.house.gov/media/press-releases/lofgren-science-democrats-condemn-illegal-elimination-office-clean-energy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3939025811851025, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}