Studies Find Department of Energy Staffing Cuts Jeopardize Ability to Carry Out its Mission

Third-party studies and government watchdogs documented how staffing cuts at the Department of Energy (DOE) reduced its capacity to carry out its mission. A study by the Federation of American Scientists, updated in January 2026 after a year of workforce losses, found across-the-board diminishment of capacity, with the greatest impacts on infrastructure and clean energy programs — the offices under the former Under Secretary for Infrastructure lost more than half their staff. A study by the EFI Foundation found that the department's ability to disburse grants for energy innovation was severely compromised: the ratio of grant budget to staff reached about $35 million per full-time employee for fiscal year 2026, up from less than $5 million in 2017, and past experience showed that when funding outpaced staff, the pace of obligations fell sharply. In May 2026, the Government Accountability Office reported that the vacancy rate in DOE's nuclear-waste cleanup office had risen from 17% to 45% during fiscal year 2025, with nearly half the vacancies in mission-critical positions, after three-quarters of departing staff left through the deferred resignation program. The losses mirrored cuts across the larger federal workforce, which saw especially significant reductions in scientific staff and loss of scientific expertise.