H.R. 1365 (119th)Bill Overview

America First Energy Act

Energy|Energy
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Feb 14, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

This bill amends the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to restrict membership and staffing of the Department of Energy’s Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation. It bars Department employees from serving as voting board members and requires voting members, the Executive Director, officers, and employees to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, refugees admitted under INA §207, or lawful permanent residents.

Why people may split

Progressives emphasize harm to talent pool and collaboration

Watch point

A narrow administrative measure is relatively easy to advance in the originating chamber; limited fiscal impact reduces barriers.

This bill amends the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to restrict membership and staffing of the Department of Energy’s Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation.

It bars Department employees from serving as voting board members and requires voting members, the Executive Director, officers, and employees to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, refugees admitted under INA §207, or lawful permanent residents.

The bill also adds a security subsection tying the Foundation’s activities to existing security provisions (subtitle D and section 223 of the 2021 NDAA).

Passage40/100

Narrow, administrative change increases chances, but ideological framing and Senate hurdles reduce likelihood absent broad bipartisan support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention68/100

Progressives emphasize harm to talent pool and collaboration

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Likely helpedWorkers

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Potential benefitReduces foreign influence and espionage risk by limiting voting and staff eligibility to citizens, nationals, refugees,…
  • Potential benefitHelps protect sensitive energy research and intellectual property through tighter personnel eligibility and security al…
  • Potential benefitAligns Foundation operations with existing national security provisions from the NDAA and subtitle D standards.
Likely burdened
  • Potential burdenNarrows the candidate pool by excluding many non-permanent foreign nationals, complicating recruitment of specialized r…
  • Potential burdenMay slow project timelines and innovation if difficult-to-hire skilled applicants are excluded.
  • WorkersCould reduce international research collaboration and technology exchange with non-resident partners or employees.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Progressives emphasize harm to talent pool and collaboration
Progressive25%

Likely to view the bill skeptically as an exclusionary, nationalist approach that may harm talent recruitment and scientific collaboration.

Supports security but sees blanket citizenship tests as blunt and potentially counterproductive for innovation and diversity.

Likely resistant
Centrist50%

Views the bill as addressing legitimate security concerns but worries about overly broad restrictions that could impede recruitment and program effectiveness.

Prefers targeted, evidence-based security rules and implementation guidance.

Split reaction
Conservative85%

Likely to favor the bill as a commonsense measure to secure energy-related R&D governance and limit foreign influence.

Appreciates prioritizing Americans and lawful residents for sensitive roles.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood40/100

Narrow, administrative change increases chances, but ideological framing and Senate hurdles reduce likelihood absent broad bipartisan support.

Scope and complexity
24%
Scopenarrow
24%
Complexitylow
Why this could stall
  • Legal challenge risk under anti‑discrimination or administrative law doctrines
  • DOE or Foundation operational objections and implementation difficulties
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Progressives emphasize harm to talent pool and collaboration

Narrow, administrative change increases chances, but ideological framing and Senate hurdles reduce likelihood absent broad bipartisan suppo…

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for America First Energy Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
Open full analysis