DOE admits OMB canceled 284 clean energy grants solely to punish political opponents

Published Jul 27, 01:45 PM UTC

The Department of Energy (DOE) has admitted that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) canceled 284 clean energy grants in October 2025 based solely on the political identity of the recipient states, targeting only states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and had two Democratic senators. The admission came in a legal stipulation in Thakur v. Trump, a lawsuit brought by University of California researchers. DOE Principal Deputy General Counsel Jeff Novak confirmed that the OMB's selection was not based on programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction, or performance-based factors. The OMB originally bragged about canceling nearly $8 billion in 'Green New Scam' funding. The remaining 340 grants on the DOE's list, which involved states that voted for Trump or had Republican senators, were not terminated. The admission contradicts earlier denials by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.