DOE guts $7.5 billion in energy funding, exclusively in Democrat-led states

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The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 energy projects, resulting in “savings of approximately $7.56 billion dollars for American taxpayers,” said the agency in a press release. 

The terminated funds were issued to Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Grid Deployment, Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and Fossil Energy. 

“On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” said DOE Secretary Chris Wright. “President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Today’s cancellation’s deliver on that commitment.” 

In May 2025, Secretary Wright issued a memorandum entitled, “Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance,” establishing a new policy for evaluating financial awards. Using this review process, DOE evaluated each of these awards and determined that they “did not meet the economic, national security or energy security standards necessary to justify continued investment.” 

The cancelled projects are in 16 select states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. All these states are historically Democrat-led. 

“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled,” said White House budget chief Russ Vought on social media leading up to the announcement. 

The targeted cut of funds marks a reversal from the Biden administration’s strategy in its landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 legislation, where funding tilted dramatically in Republican voting districts’ favor. 

According to E2, which tracks announced investments in the clean energy sector, over 88,000 jobs and $107 billion in private investments have been announced in historically Republican voting districts post-IRA, far more than the $22 billion and 30,000 jobs announced in Democratic voting districts.

Image: E2

Roughly 80% of the private investment announcements spurred by IRA have occurred in Republican districts. The Department of Treasury said IRA investments are expected to support 1.5 million jobs over the next decade, based on analysis by the Labor Energy Partnership. 

“Ending support for these projects will stall American innovation and competitiveness, raising costs for consumers, and further cementing our reliance on dirty fossil fuels,” said Jackie Wong, senior vice president, Natural Resource Defense Council in a statement. 

DOE said award recipients have 30 days to appeal a termination decision and that some of the projects included in the announcement have already begun that process. 

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