Administration Admits in Court It Canceled $7.6 Billion in Clean Energy Grants Based Solely on Recipients’ States Voting for Harris
In a July 15, 2026 filing in a class action lawsuit, the Trump administration acknowledged that the Department of Energy sent the Office of Management and Budget a list of more than 600 grants recommended for cancellation drawn from recipients in states that Kamala Harris won in 2024 and that are represented by two senators who caucus with Democrats. OMB terminated 284 of those grants in October 2025, totaling roughly $7.6 billion across hundreds of clean energy projects. The filing stated the terminations were made "based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient's state." Affected projects were located in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. The admission contradicted repeated public assertions by Energy Secretary Chris Wright that the cuts were routine "business decisions" about whether projects were a good use of taxpayer money. Democrats seized on the filing when it was reported on July 25, accusing the administration of weaponizing federal spending to punish voters in states that opposed the president.
“The cancellations were "business decisions" about whether the projects were a good use of taxpayer money, and the projects were canceled because they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs.”