Kennedy asked Wright about the money that went out the door in those 76 days between the time President Trump was elected and the time Joe Biden left office. //

"During that short period of time, 76 days, how much taxpayer money went out the door of the Department of Energy?" Kennedy asked.

"From the loan program office, in loans and commitments, $93 billion. Well over twice as much as in the previous 15 years," Wright replied. //

Wright responded, "I think it's probably pretty clear it wasn't done in many cases...There's lots of funds that have gone out the door and commitments that were made from businesses that provided no business plan, no numbers about their own financial solvency..."

"So you're telling me that the Department of Energy, in the 76-day period, before their boss was gonna leave office, gave or loaned money to entities that had no business plan?" Kennedy inquired.

"Correct," Wright said.

Kennedy continued, asking Wright if he was going back and checking over these applications. Wright said, "Yes," and "My blood pressure is rising right now" over what they had found. He said some of the people who applied "should be ashamed."

Kennedy, who always has a quip for everything, observed, "It's rare that I'm speechless." He asked again if this money was "shoveled out the door" by the Biden team in this period. "It is correct and distasteful," Wright confirmed. "Confidence undermining."

"My God!" Kennedy exclaimed. Kennedy said Wright should take whatever time he needed to go through all these projects, "penny by penny." "They were spending money at the Department of Energy like it was ditchwater! Their budget went from $60 billion to $160 billion since fiscal year 2021. It just sounds to me like there were a lot of people coming to the Department of Energy who had all four feet and their snout in the trough. I hope you'll turn down the boondoggles and refer the thieves to the Department of Justice."

"We will indeed," Wright promised.