Will Trump Repeal the IRA?

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump to serve a second term in office, along with presumptive Republican majorities in both houses of congress, many are now asking about what the future will hold for the oddly-named Inflation Reduction Act. Trump made it repeatedly clear on the campaign trail that he is not a fan of that law, which was passed on straight party-line votes in both houses of congress, or of the hundreds of billions of dollars in green energy subsidies contained in it.

In a statement sent out in a post-election memo, Sierra Club president Ben Jealous took on a pessimistic tone, saying, “Donald Trump was a disaster for climate progress during his first term, and everything he’s said and done since suggests he’s eager to do even more damage this time.” Given the major role played by the Sierra Club and other climate alarm conflict groups played in writing the IRA, that’s exactly the kind of comments we might expect.

But a full repeal of the IRA seems unlikely to succeed, even with GOP control of the House and Senate. Republican majorities will be slim and the GOP has never shown an ability to hold all its members together when voting on controversial issues in any event. Thus, a more scalpel-like approach seems more likely to succeed.