The big savings this week from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) amounts to $4.9 billion in a canceled US Department of Energy (DoE) program approved under former President Joe Biden.
It has a nice sounding name, Grain Belt Express, but has a not so nice consequence for farmers and taxpayers. The program is a part of the climate alarmist, Democrat-led Green New Deal.
The project is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line intended to connect wind and solar capacity across Kansas and Missouri. The project faced fierce pushback from Illinois landowners over concerns about property rights and eminent domain.
This commitment that would have provided a taxpayer-funded loan guarantee of up to $4.9 billion dollars, was issued by the Biden administration in November 2024. According to the DoE, this project is on one “many conditional commitments that were rushed out the door in the final days of the Biden administration.”
In the time between VP Kamala Harris lost the presidential election and Inauguration Day 2025, President Biden pushed nearly $100 billion in closed loans and conditional commitments out the door. The Trump administration will be reviewing each and every one of these to “ensure every single taxpayer dollar is being used to advance the best interest of the American people. DOE remains focused on advancing projects that expand American energy dominance and deliver on President Trump’s commitment to lower energy prices for the American people.
DoE said, “After a thorough review of the project’s financials, DOE found that the conditions necessary to issue the guarantee are unlikely to be met and it is not critical for the federal government to have a role in supporting this project. To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment.”
Contracts Update
- Over the last 5 days, agencies terminated 122 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $1.4B and savings of $388M, including a $1.17M National Science Foundation consulting contract for “merit review experience study”, and a $523k DoE facilities services contract for “energy efficiency and renewable energy business admin support services”.
- The US General Services Administration (GSA) saved taxpayers $1.3 billion annually by inking a deal with DocuSign. With this deal, Docusign’s e-signature plan will be offered at a 70% discount, and its Intelligent Agreement Management at a 50% discount. Potential savings at the GSA are $1.3B annually and opportunity for significantly more upside with additional agency uptake.