Trump administration admits targeting blue states in federal grant cuts

President Donald Trump has shown no compunction over his administration's tendency to hold federal funding as leverage to bend blue states to his political agenda—a pattern confirmed by a New York Times report, which found the Trump administration canceled more than $7.5 billion in federal grants for clean energy projects originally awarded under the Biden administration in 2025.

The Times reported that federal officials acknowledged in court documents that they had terminated the funding based on political criteria, singling out projects in Democratic states that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024. A group of researchers from the University of California filed the class-action lawsuit against the administration alleging that the targeting was politically motivated.

The Energy Department sent the Office of Management and Budget a list of more than 600 grants it recommended for cancellation, targeting recipients in states that met certain criteria. The OMB ultimately terminated 284 of those grants in October 2025. According to a lawyer involved in the case, the 284 grants were rejected for a single criterion: the recipient location and/or at least one place of performance was in a state that awarded its electoral votes to Harris and has two Democratic-caucusing senators.

The report invited severe backlash from Democratic lawmakers and critics alike, who called the move an abuse of presidential power that reeks of executive overreach. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) wrote on X: "This mass partisan retribution is appalling, outrageous, dangerous, lawless, unconstitutional, unpatriotic and a massive offense against the Republic. Trump knew how important these Biden-era grants were to the American people, which is why he did not cut them off to the red states, but did cut them off to the blue states."

Raskin, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, added: "This is rank partisan discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and Equal Protection, conflicting with the president's duty to 'take Care that the laws be faithfully executed.' Every elected official must denounce this imbecilic deep betrayal of America. And the illegally impounded funds must be restored and released immediately to the blue states."

Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) contended that Energy Secretary Chris Wright was less than truthful when he appeared before him during a congressional hearing, claiming that his department had canceled billions in clean energy grants based "on merits and unrelated to politics." "Apparently a clear and direct falsehood while testifying before Congress," Levin wrote on X. "This was never about waste. It was political revenge, carried out with billions of taxpayer dollars. That is corruption. And there must be consequences."