Senate Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to restore funding for hundreds of energy projects that were canceled "based solely" on political grounds, calling the terminations "an attempt to punish perceived political enemies."
In a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Director Russell Vought, Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., were joined by 37 Democratic-caucusing senators in demanding that 223 energy grants be restored.
“Once an administration begins punishing Americans for how they vote, the threat extends far beyond these projects: no state, community, business, or worker can trust that the federal government will apply the law fairly,” the letter said.
The grants, canceled in October, were terminated because they were connected to states that did not vote for Trump in 2024 and had two Democratic-caucusing senators, according to a court filing from a Trump administration official this month.
The letter from Democrats called the cancellations "an attack on the rule of law and the basic democratic principle that the federal government serves the entire country — not merely those who support the President."
“At a time when energy prices are skyrocketing, the administration is hell-bent on political retribution instead of working to bring down costs for millions of Americans," the letter said. “For the good of our country, the rule of law, and the American people, we demand that you change course and restore the previously awarded funding."
In the filing this month, an Energy Department official stated that the canceled grants were selected "based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state" and not because of other factors, like cost reductions.
The Energy Department said in a statement last week that the filing did not show that cancellations were made with a political bias, arguing that it was "misrepresentation of the court filing" to say so.