The Trump administration’s termination of roughly $8 billion in clean energy projects in blue states will choke off funding to dozens of projects aimed at shoring up the grid and creating thousands of manufacturing jobs — and the pain is likely to stretch into more than two dozen GOP districts, according to a list obtained by POLITICO.
The Department of Energy’s list of more than 200 affected projects, which circulated Thursday on Capitol Hill, includes two massive West Coast projects aimed at producing hydrogen to replace fossil fuels. More than two dozen electricity grid improvement projects and scores of research and development projects also made the list of cancellations.
DOE announced the cancellations late Wednesday night, as the Trump administration used the first day of the government shutdown to make good on its vows to inflict financial punishment on Democratic priorities. DOE said its terminations encompassed 321 financial awards totaling $7.56 billion.
The move came hours after White House budget director Russ Vought had promised on X that the administration would pull back “Green New Scam funding” in 16 states — all of which had voted for Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. It prompted swift criticism from Democrats who accused the administration of abusing its power.
The cancellations come as soaring power demand is driving up electricity prices across the country. Democrats said pulling the grants would only worsen the economic pain, which is already emerging as an issue in state-level elections this year and has become a focal point for Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
“The Trump Administration continued its assault on cheap energy today, canceling projects designed to lower electricity bills while wasting your taxpayer dollars in the process,” said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). “When Americans see their energy bills rise once again, they can thank Donald Trump, Russ Vought, and Chris Wright.”
And for some of those projects, the economic harm from canceling them will spill over to Republican-led states and congressional districts. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, released a breakdown Thursday that showed at least 28 GOP lawmakers would see spending tied to their districts canceled, while 108 Democrats’ districts would be hit.
DeLauro blasted the cuts, saying in a statement the “sad reality is that Americans—the middle class, working class, and vulnerable—who voted for both Democrats and Republicans will be hurt by this. This is divisive, it is petty, and unfortunately it is exactly what we have come to expect from President Trump and Russ Vought.”
Terminating funding to the hydrogen “hub” projects in California and the Pacific Northwest — which were to receive $1.2 billion and $1 billion, respectively, through the 2021 infrastructure law — comes despite bipartisan support for those projects. The Pacific Northwest hydrogen hub includes GOP-led Montana, as well as Washington state and Oregon.
Washington state Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse, whose district would be home in part to the Pacific Northwest hub, had touted the project in an April op-ed, saying it “will support the administration’s focus on energy independence and domestic energy production.” His office did not immediately comment on the canceled funding.
Teresa Cooke, executive director of the California Hydrogen Coalition, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the revocation of funding for the California hub, known as ARCHES, “will be felt by everyone, including the more than 6 million Californians who cast their votes for President Trump last fall.”
The list includes some examples where DOE listed the awardee as being a blue state, but where the project itself is also in another GOP state or stretches to a GOP district. Four of the canceled awards, for example, were set to go to Washington State University, in the district of Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.), whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another terminated award to Mineral Basin Solar Power is listed as being in Massachusetts, but DOE documents show that the project would take place in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, which is represented by Republican Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DOE did not respond to a request for comment on the list obtained by POLITICO. It is unclear if the list is final or if DOE plans to cancel additional projects.
On Wednesday, the department said the canceled projects did not “adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”
In a letter sent to affected projects on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, the department directed recipients to immediately cease all activities and “cancel as many outstanding obligations as possible.” It said projects must inform DOE within 10 calendar days if they plan to appeal the decision.
The cancellation list also includes 26 grants under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, which is aimed at boosting the resilience of the electric grid.
Though the Biden administration granted awards to all 50 states under the GRIP program, the cancellation list names projects only in states led by Democrats. They include a $630 million award to the California Energy Commission, $464 million to the Minnesota Department of Commerce and $250 million to Warm Springs Power Enterprises in Oregon.
The cancellations will also affect major U.S. manufacturers such as Cummins, GE Vernova, John Deere and Caterpillar, as well as grid-related projects for major utilities such as Xcel Energy, National Grid and Commonwealth Edison. The list also details projects that had been poised to support research work across several universities.
Also included on the list were several grants that DOE had already announced it was canceling in May to support projects to lessen industrial carbon pollution.
While the cancellations landed on the first day of the government shutdown, the Energy Department had already been conducting a review of more than $15 billion in awards issued under the Biden administration.
California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, told POLITICO on Thursday that the cancellations have “nothing to do with a government shutdown and everything to do with Mafioso politics and the unraveling of our democracy.”
He said the fallout could wind up backfiring on Trump, by providing new momentum for a Democratic effort to flip five House seats in California through a redistricting proposal on November’s ballot.
“There’s a good chance we win more than 5 seats in California now, because every CA Republican is doing nothing to stop Trump’s dictatorial vengeance tour,” Huffman added.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.