Eliminate ARPA-E
What the document says“Eliminate ARPA-E. The next Administration should work with Congress to eliminate ARPA–E.”
The chapter says the agency is unnecessary, risks taxpayer dollars and interferes with risk-benefit decisions that should be made by the private sector. ARPA-E funds early-stage energy research thought too risky for private investment.
What the document actually says“Eliminate ARPA-E. The next Administration should work with Congress to eliminate ARPA–E.”
Close ARPA-E. The next team should work with Congress to end it.
ARPA-E pays for risky energy research. The idea is that firms will not fund it. The book says that is not the government's job.
Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes
2026-01-23 · 140 Stat. 5
Public Law 119-74 appropriates $350,000,000 under the heading Advanced Research Projects Agency, Energy for the activities authorized by section 5012 of the America COMPETES Act, of which $40,000,000 is available until September 30, 2027 for program direction. The passage asks Congress to eliminate that agency, and the act instead names it and funds it for fiscal year 2026. The fit breaks down in that the act carries no provision addressing whether the agency should continue, repeals no part of its authorizing statute, and reaches only one fiscal year, so it records a funding decision rather than a decision on the agency's existence.
The same 2026 spending law gives $350 million to the energy research agency the passage would close. It names the agency and funds it for one year. But the law says nothing about whether the agency should go on. It repeals no part of the law that set it up.