Why It Matters

The combined $134 billion directed to USDA and DOE under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was intended to fund a broad range of infrastructure and energy initiatives, from reducing wildfire risk in rural communities to developing clean energy technologies and improving rural power production. The executive review process that followed a January 2025 presidential directive has resulted in confirmed cancellations at DOE and a partial accounting at USDA, but the GAO's findings make clear that the public record of what happened to those funds is incomplete.

GAO found DOE's data sufficiently reliable for reporting purposes, but concluded that USDA's data fell short of that standard, leaving the full picture of that agency's review unresolved. Grant recipients have raised concerns that delays in distributing funds affect their ability to implement their projects, a dynamic that applies whether an award was ultimately canceled, modified, or delayed during the review period.

The Big Picture

Of the $37 billion provided to USDA after rescissions under Public Law 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), USDA obligated $32.2 billion for fiscal years 2022 through 2025. Of the $78 billion provided to DOE after rescissions under the same law, DOE obligated $51 billion over the same period.

Beginning in January 2025, the President issued executive orders directing agencies to pause IIJA and IRA funding and review it for consistency with administration priorities, with instructions to modify or cancel awards that did not align. USDA's review specifically targeted awards related to the use of racial, ethnic, and gender preferences and those promoting climate change or environmental justice initiatives, according to agency officials and documentation. Senior leadership made final decisions on whether to continue, modify, or cancel awards.

USDA reported completing its review by June 30, 2025. DOE took a different approach, creating an advisory Portfolio Review Process (PRP) committee in May 2025 to evaluate awards for consistency with executive orders, with the relevant program office head retaining final decision authority. DOE completed its review in April 2026, approving 381 awards totaling $19.6 billion to continue and canceling 155 awards totaling $9.1 billion.

GAO found DOE's data sufficiently reliable for reporting, but concluded that USDA's data fell short, leaving the full picture of that agency's review incomplete. USDA officials were unable to specify which awards were approved to continue or modified, or whether additional awards beyond the 34 terminated contracts totaling $67 million were affected by the review.

The contrast between the two agencies is notable. DOE built a formal advisory structure, the PRP committee, with defined decision authority sitting at the program office level, and produced records GAO could verify. USDA's process, by the agency's own account, concluded months earlier, yet produced documentation that auditors found insufficient to reconstruct what happened across the full portfolio.

The Bottom Line

With USDA's records too incomplete to verify the full scope of its own review, and DOE having canceled 155 awards totaling $9.1 billion out of the portfolio it evaluated, the combined effect of legislative rescissions and executive-order-driven cancellations on the original $134 billion commitment remains only partially visible to Congress and the public.

The insufficiency of USDA's own data is itself a finding with practical consequences. Oversight bodies, appropriators, and grant recipients seeking to understand what remains available, what was terminated, and on what basis cannot draw those conclusions from the agency's own records as they currently exist.

GAO's contact for the report is Anne Sit-Williams, Director of Financial Management and Assurance, at [email protected]. Readers tracking this issue can follow related legislative activity through official government sources.

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