John Sneed, who returned to run the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office under the second Trump administration in January, is stepping aside on Friday.
Sneed, who served as executive director of the office under the first Trump administration, was reappointed in a transitional capacity in January. The original contract was for 30 days, though the period was extended twice. However, almost exactly 60 days after Trump’s inauguration, Sneed will now return to Texas, the agency said in a statement.
LPO didn’t immediately announce who will replace Sneed to run the loan office, which has been responsible for deploying roughly $400 billion in government funds, but said it plans to do so in the coming weeks.
It is unclear whether it was DOE that chose not to extend Sneed’s contract or make it a permanent position, or Sneed that chose to depart. As of the time of publication, nowhere on the DOE website does it indicate that Sneed is a transitional or temporary leader for the office.
When Sneed returned to federal government after a stint as a consultant, it was to a significantly expanded Loan Programs Office: more money to dole out, and more loans to manage. In his early weeks in the office, he reportedly told employees that the focus would be specifically on technologies favored by the new administration, like nuclear power and gas.
During Trump’s first term, his administration attempted to zero out its budget four years in a row. As a result, the president’s antipathy toward the office has been a cause for concern for both would-be borrowers, and those who had already inked deals.
In the waning weeks of the Biden administration, applicants ramped up their timelines, attempting to get final approval before the second Trump administration came into office.Within hours of taking office, Trump signed an executive order pausing the disbursement of funds from the IRA and BIL — including LPO funds. But in recent weeks, at least two LPO-backed projects have been able to cash out on their loans: Holtec’s Palisades nuclear project, and Montana Renewables’ sustainable aviation fuel factory.
