The Trump Administration unveiled its $4.8 trillion FY2021 budget proposal on February 10, including $35.4 billion to fund the Department of Energy (DOE). In this proposal, the administration once again targeted the DOE’s energy and applied R&D programs—energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transportation, fossil energy, nuclear energy, and grid modernization—cutting more than 44 percent from the FY2020. As in the previous year, renewable and energy efficiency programs would be scaled back drastically, while popular program such as Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and DOE’s loan program would be eliminated. If Congress approves the budget, it could have major consequences for the future of renewable energy in the U.S. Furthermore, discontinuing ARPA-E program would seriously impede the development and deployment of many promising innovative projects that could be alternative to fossil fuels. ALPA-E provides energy researchers and startups, including advance nuclear technologies, with funding, technical assistance, and market readiness