House moderates accept sledgehammer approach to green energy tax credits despite calls for scalpel

Despite insisting for months they wanted green energy tax credits to be handled with a scalpel in their sweeping reconciliation measure, moderate Republicans ultimately accepted a sledgehammer against the subsidies.

Most of the 13 members who warned that the original text of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” could “provoke an energy crisis or cause higher energy bills for working families,” ultimately voted to support it after it got even stricter as part of a deal to win over conservative hardliners.

The legislation cleared the House 215-214 early Friday morning and now heads to the Senate.

“Those are pragmatic individuals that know that they have to get something done,” said Andrew Mills, managing director at American Conservation Coalition Action, a right-of-center climate group.

“Just given the political realities of this bill and the situation, I don’t think it’s too surprising,” Mills said.

For months, the House has been in a tug-of-war as to whether to take a “scalpel” approach and make fine changes to energy tax credits passed in Democrats’ massive 2022 climate, tax and health care bill, or whether to use a “sledgehammer” and largely eliminate all the credits.

Where they ultimately landed makes significant cuts: saying that tax credits for many low-carbon energy sources including wind and solar will only apply to projects that start construction within 60 days of the bill’s passage and only to those that begin producing electricity by 2029.

Lawmakers, however, added a carveout for nuclear energy, which will only need to begin construction rather than begin producing electricity by the end of 2028 to receive the tax credit.

The bill also includes strict provisions excluding projects that use any Chinese components, minerals or subcomponents for projects that start construction after the end of this year. This is a massive obstacle, as China is a major minerals processing hub. 

Despite these provisions, which were largely a win for the party’s right flank, their moderate counterparts still lined up to support the bill.

Some GOP lawmakers said that a hard-fought increase on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction was likely a higher priority. 

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who was also among the lawmakers who raised concerns on the tax credit provisions, posted on X that SALT was his “number one focus in Washington.”

Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) similarly cited the SALT changes in a statement outlining her support for the legislation.

Others simply expressed support for the bill overall, which extends tax cuts passed under Trump’s first term in 2017 and increases funding for the border and deportations. 

Rep Don Bacon (R-Neb.) called the package “not perfect” but touted his support for other provisions such as the tax cuts.

Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) whose district is home to a major wind project in progress, released a statement saying she supported the bill overall, though she had harsh words for its approach to the energy tax credits. 

“This bill isn’t perfect — but it’s a serious, solutions-focused package that delivers for our health care system, our military, and the American taxpayer,” Kiggans said. 

However, she added that “rather than responsibly phasing out clean electricity incentives, the bill abruptly ends support after 2028 and eliminates tax credits for leased systems often used by schools, local governments, and homeowners. These changes jeopardize local jobs, limit community access to affordable energy, and undercut innovation — especially in regions like ours, where energy resilience and national defense go hand in hand.”

Ultimately, Kiggans said she hoped that changes would be made to the bill on the Senate side.

Four Republican senators — enough to block the bill if they’re willing to go to the mat on the issue — have called for “a targeted, pragmatic approach” on the credits.

It’s not entirely clear, however, what specific policies these lawmakers would like to see or how hard they or other like-minded senators would be willing to fight for the issue. 

Back on the House side, another leading voice pushing for a more lenient approach, Rep. Anthony Garbarino (R-N.Y.) ultimately did not vote. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that Garbarino fell asleep during the late-night session.

Earlier Wednesday evening, Garbarino raised concerns about the energy provisions and the country’s ability to meet its growing energy demand.  

“We can't meet that demand if we're pulling energy projects off the table here. And I think these, I think these things I'm hearing could end up killing a lot of projects,” he told reporters.

—Aris Folley contributed.