PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 14, 2025
America First Energy Act
This bill places certain restrictions on board members and employees of the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation of the Department of Energy (DOE). The foundation is an independent, agency-related foundation that assists DOE in addressing energy and environmental challenges through science and technology solutions, including by accelerating the development and commercialization of critical energy technologies and fostering public-private partnerships.
Specifically, the bill requires the foundation's voting board members, executive director, officers, and employees to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) admitted as refugees, or non-U.S. nationals lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Finally, the bill directs the foundation to require covered individuals listed on an application for a research and development award from the foundation to disclose all current and pending research support received or expected to be received by the individuals. Covered individuals means individuals who (1) contribute in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of a research and development project proposed to be carried out with an award from the foundation; and (2) are designated as a covered individual by the foundation.
People & committees
Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11] · R–FL
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-14 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed America First Energy Act would set citizenship or immigration-status requirements for voting board members and staff of the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation. It would prohibit Department of Energy employees from being appointed as voting board members. It would also require compliance with security provisions referenced in other laws.
This Act may be cited as the America First Energy Act.
(I) Restrictions on membership (i) Employees No employee of the Department may be appointed as a voting member of the Board. (ii) Status Each voting member of the Board shall be— (I) a citizen of the United States; (II) a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); (III) an alien admitted as a refugee under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1157); or (IV) an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
(ii) Officers and employees Each officer or employee of the Foundation shall be— (I) a citizen of the United States; (II) a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); (III) an alien admitted as a refugee under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1157); or (IV) an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
(d) Security This section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of subtitle D of this title and section 223 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (42 U.S.C. 6605).
The bill would replace the existing voting-board membership restrictions with a rule barring Department of Energy employees from appointment as voting members. Each voting member would have to be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national under the referenced immigration-law definition, a person admitted as a refugee under the referenced law, or a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
(A) in paragraph (2), by amending subparagraph (I) to read as follows: (I) Restrictions on membership (i) Employees No employee of the Department may be appointed as a voting member of the Board. (ii) Status Each voting member of the Board shall be— (I) a citizen of the United States; (II) a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); (III) an alien admitted as a refugee under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1157); or (IV) an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
The Foundation’s executive director would have to be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national under the referenced immigration-law definition, a person admitted as a refugee under the referenced law, or a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
(M) Restrictions (i) Executive Director The Executive Director shall be— (I) a citizen of the United States; (II) a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); (III) an alien admitted as a refugee under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1157); or (IV) an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
Every Foundation officer or employee would also have to be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national under the referenced immigration-law definition, a person admitted as a refugee under the referenced law, or a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
(ii) Officers and employees Each officer or employee of the Foundation shall be— (I) a citizen of the United States; (II) a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); (III) an alien admitted as a refugee under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1157); or (IV) an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
The bill would require the Foundation’s governing statutory section to be carried out in accordance with subtitle D of the referenced title and section 223 of the national defense authorization law for fiscal year 2021. These are mandatory cross-references to requirements in other laws; their contents are not reproduced in the supplied text.
Section 10691 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19281; enacted as part of division B of Public Law 117–167) is amended—
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: (d) Security This section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of subtitle D of this title and section 223 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (42 U.S.C. 6605).
The supplied actions snapshot, updated March 19, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on February 14, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-19T14:30:12Z. 2025-02-14: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. 2025-02-14: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-14. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out, special exemption, or exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI