Judge Deems Trump Administration Clean Energy Cuts “Unlawful”
Judge Amit P. Mehta said the termination of seven Biden-era grants worth roughly $27.5 million violated the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
“The terminated grants had one glaring commonality: All the awardees (but one) were based in states whose majority of citizens casting votes did not support President Trump in the 2024 election,” Judge Mehta wrote.
The Energy Department eliminated more than $7.5 billion in clean-energy funding last October, with Democratic strongholds bearing the brunt.
In November, a coalition of energy groups and the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, sued over seven canceled grants, alleging political bias. Monday’s ruling addressed only those grants.
The White House unveiled the cuts on the first day of the government shutdown, amid partisan clashes over federal spending.
“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled,” White House budget director Russell T. Vought said on social media, listing 16 Democratic-led states affected.
The canceled projects were part of more than 220 Biden-era initiatives, including power grid upgrades, methane-leak reduction programs, and clean-hydrogen hubs. Billions in awards tied to Republican-led states—such as hydrogen hubs in West Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana—were spared.
Judge Mehta concluded the department showed “no plausible rational connection” between its stated priorities and the geographic distribution of the cuts.
Energy Department spokesman Ben Dietderich rejected the ruling, defending the agency’s review process.
"The American people deserve a government that is accountable and responsible in managing taxpayer funds,” he said.
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