Environmental and renewable energy advocates are not surprised to see their priorities skewered in President Donald Trump’s budget request. Their question now is whether enough Congressional Republicans will be willing to defend against deep cuts to energy and infrastructure spending.

The fiscal-year 2026 budget, issued on Friday, would cut non-defense discretionary spending by $163 billion, down 23 percent from the current budget, according to Trump’s Office of Management and Budget. The fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

Many aspects of the request were already covered by Trump executive orders that seek to reduce government support for renewable energy and environmental justice. The Trump administration released this proposal months after a February statutory deadline. Republicans in Congress have already done extensive work on the 2026 budget.

All of these factors may reduce the significance of Trump’s budget request as a factor in crafting an actual budget. But the document is still important as a distillation of the administration’s priorities.

“I certainly hope that more strategic and less ideological heads prevail,” said Harrison Godfrey, who oversees lobbying for Advanced Energy United, a trade group whose members have interests in wind, solar and batteries, among others.

He is optimistic that there are enough Republicans in the House and Senate who see the value of investing in clean energy and will want to stop some of the most extreme cuts.

Godfrey criticized the budget request for seemingly defunding programs based on keywords, such as environmental justice and renewable energy.

“This feels like a budget process by Control F,” he said, referring to the keystroke that allows a user to search for certain words.

He plans to argue to members of Congress that renewable energy and batteries are among the technologies that are essential for an economy with abundant and affordable energy, and he expects that members from both parties will be receptive.

But many more Republicans said they support Trump’s budget priorities.

“President Trump’s budget is a battle plan for restoring economic freedom and fiscal sanity in Washington before it’s too late,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), the chair of the House Budget Committee, in a statement.

Democrats, who have little power to influence the budget process, responded to Trump’s plan with derision.

“This budget is exactly what we expected: a betrayal of hardworking, middle-class families that shows the President’s singular focus is slashing essential government programs in order to fund more tax breaks for his billionaire buddies,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, in a statement. “This is not what the American people voted for, and it is sure as hell not the answer to sky-high costs that families, seniors, veterans, and workers are facing.”

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