Commercialization of fusion energy will ‘change everything,’ lawmaker says

Even though artificial intelligence continues to dominate headlines, the adoption of commercially-viable fusion energy is also poised to “change everything,” according to a House lawmaker co-sponsoring legislation to accelerate U.S. development and deployment of the nuclear power source. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers rolled out a measure known as the American Leadership in Fusion Act on Thursday, that would advance policy recommendations from federal agencies, officials and industry, as well as allocate $10 billion in direct investments to commercialize fusion energy. 

The bill was introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and is co-sponsored by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Lori Trahan, D-Mass., and James Gallagher, R-Calif. Lofgren is the top Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, while Obernolte chairs the panel’s Research and Technology Subcommittee. 

Fusion has been billed as a cleaner, more sustainable form of power, with backers of the technology saying it could supply a constant, zero-carbon source of energy for electrical grids and other infrastructure. Maintaining fusion on Earth requires generating and sustaining a plasma — the state of matter in which the fusion reactions occur.

In an interview with Nextgov/FCW, Beyer said the U.S. is now “two to 10 years away from fusion energy at scale,” which is “only possible because you can model the plasma using AI, which you couldn’t do before.”

The congressman said the House bill originated from an October 2025 report that Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., oversaw as part of a bipartisan commission of the Special Competitive Studies Project. Beyer said the study found that “with $10 billion, we can solve the last remaining engineering problems, [while] doing it all in a milestone kind of way.”

Beyond the SCSP report, the measure also builds on recommendations from the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee and the Energy Department’s Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, as well as input from the Fusion Industry Association.

The House proposal would allocate $3.8 billion of the $10 billion total “to build major new test facilities to address fusion materials and fuel cycle challenges,” according to a legislative fact sheet. An additional $3 billion would be set aside for ”a new milestone-based demonstration program for fusion,” while $2 billion would be allocated for “the current milestone-based development program for fusion.” Most of the remaining funds would be used to build out smaller testing facilities and enhance research and development activities. 

The bill would also further prioritize fusion development on the federal level by codifying Energy’s Office of Fusion and authorizing the National Science Foundation to create a fusion workforce development program in collaboration with the department.

“Forgive my overstatement: that will be the biggest thing to happen to mankind since fire,” Beyer said about the eventual commercialization of fusion energy.

If Democrats regain control of the House in November — a possibility that is growing more likely as nonpartisan midterm election observers like the Cook Political Report predict that Republicans are on track to lose their majority in the lower chamber — Beyer said he expects Lofgren to prioritize the fusion measure as the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s anticipated next chair. 

“In the meantime, I'm trying to talk to every legislator, Democrat and Republican, House and Senate, and point out that this is the most important thing they'll do in their careers, maybe their lives,” Beyer said about supporting the legislation.