House Science Committee ranking member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Research and Technology chair Jay Obernolte (R-CA) introduced the American Leadership in Fusion Act (H.R. 10574) on September 24, 2026, packaging $10 billion in direct appropriations for fusion commercialisation — the largest single fusion authorisation ever put before Congress. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Lori Trahan (D-MA) and James Gallagher (R-CA) joined as original cosponsors.
The Ten-Billion-Dollar Package
The bill's headline numbers include roughly $4 billion for materials and fuel-cycle test facilities, $2 billion to expand the DOE's milestone-based fusion development program first authorised by the 2020 Energy Act and 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, and $3 billion for a new demonstration program modelled on the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program that has driven fission SMR progress. It also codifies a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Fusion Energy and formalises a DOE Office of Fusion.
Industry Endorsements
The Fusion Industry Association, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Clean Air Task Force, ClearPath Action and a coalition of national labs and universities endorsed the bill at introduction. CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard framed the number as a floor, not a ceiling: "it would be a disservice to lowball what is needed" to industrialise the sector.
Why Now
The bipartisan bill lands amid a global fusion arms race. ENN Group broke ground on its Helong-2 hydrogen-boron platform in China this month, Proxima Fusion committed €140M to an HTS-tape plant in Germany, and nT-Tao signed an MoU with Orion Nuclear to site 20 MW compact fusion at US data centers. Meanwhile, Chinese private-fusion financing has surged 233x year-over-year, according to 36Kr, and US DOE recently added $134M in targeted research grants.
Odds Of Passage
Fusion has been unusually bipartisan on Capitol Hill, but a $10B authorisation is still a heavy lift in the current Congress. Even so, the bill establishes the fiscal template industry advocates want committee staff working from as appropriations are marked up. "Fusion is the future," Lofgren said in a statement, "and this bipartisan bill is a major step in capitalizing on the promise of its emission-free power."
Reporting based on coverage from Heatmap News, Fusion Industry Association and the Trahan and Lofgren House offices.