Energy Department Says Grants Were Cut Because States Voted Blue

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(Bloomberg) — Democrats are demanding that the Trump administration release billions in funding for energy projects after a top Energy Department lawyer conceded in court filings that the only reason they were canceled is that they were in “Blue States.”

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That concession by Jeffrey Novak, DOE’s principal deputy general counsel, came in court documents filed last week in a lawsuit brought by University of California faculty and researchers whose grants had been terminated. He said politics, not policy, drove the decision.

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“DOE accepts that the inclusion of grants in the October notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” Novak wrote. “DOE accepts that the differential treatment resulting in the October 2025 termination of Blue State grants and the non-termination of non-Blue State grants was not based on a rational connection between the recipient’s location and/or place of performance and DOE’s past or current agency priorities.”

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The Energy Department eliminated nearly $8 billion in energy grants last October just hours into a government shutdown, as President Donald Trump attempted to exert leverage on Democratic lawmakers to pass a spending bill. They included $1.2 billion earmarked for a California hydrogen hub that had been approved under President Joe Biden.

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“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled,” White House Budget Director Russ Vought announced on social media, listing 16 states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

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Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker demanded Friday that the Energy Department release $583 million that had been designated for his state.

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“Donald Trump’s cancellation of federal grant funds for Illinois organizations was obviously a political attack from the start, and now his own officials have admitted it in court,” he said in a statement. “These are the actions of a narcissistic authoritarian blinded by the glare of his own ego, and they are hurting working families in my state.”

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Neither the Office of Management and Budget nor the Energy Department responded to requests for comment Friday evening. 

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The revelation comes as the White House is trying to push though changes to grant-making rules that would give it even more control over who receives more than $1 trillion in federal grants. The administration argues that it needs the added authority to eliminate waste and make sure grants align with administration priorities.

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In the court filing last week, Novak acknowledged that the cancellation of Energy Department grants last October was not “based on any programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction, or performance-based factor.”

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