Gao lifts the lid
Whether the administration’s actions will slow or accelerate the Institute’s funding, the pace is already slow due to some measures in many agencies. In a report to Congress in April, the GAO said that as of the end of 2024, $275 billion of the $581 billion (82% of the total $712 billion authorized) available to federal agencies had been committed for infrastructure projects through fiscal year 2025. Total expenditures, that is, the amount actually delivered, were only $119 billion, or 21% (see table).
At the Department of Transportation, the largest single recipient of IIJA funding, total committed funding as of July 31 was $305 billion, 71% of its budget authority of $432 billion. But total spending on that date was $169 billion, or 39%. Money for roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. has been allocated and spent at the fastest pace, about 80% and 50% to 60% respectively, through agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Other DOT sub-agencies are lagging behind. FAA dollars earmarked for projects that would impact electrical design and contracting firms the most under DOT will go out more slowly. Of its $20 billion authority, 51% had been committed and 27% had been spent as of late July. Federal Railroad Administration projects, which can also involve heavy electrification, are also slow. IIJA’s funding authority was $53 billion, of which 65% was committed, and only 8% was spent.
The Government Accountability Office issued a report in July urging the Department of Transportation to address delays in getting funding to discretionary grantees. Sources of delay include inflation-related cost increases; Complies with the Build America, Buy America Act; National Environmental Policy Act revisions; Determine the project budget and schedule. These interconnected challenges “create risks for awardees, including that funding will expire or no longer be available to the awardee,” the GAO said, adding that “awardee challenges must be addressed as decisions are made about delivering the remaining billions in IIJA funding.”
At the Department of Energy, the agency sponsoring IIJA projects with the greatest electricity sector potential, commitments and expenditures as a percentage of total authority are the lowest among about 15 agencies. Of the nearly $43 billion in funds available for obligation for fiscal year 2022-2025, the agency has committed 11% and spent just 1% as of the end of 2024. GAO says the lagging performance may be due in part to the agency being one of three agencies that have never drafted an IIJA implementation plan. The DOE attributed this in part to decentralized management plans that never established coherent implementation guidelines.
