Key facts
- A federal judge ruled the Trump administration illegally canceled $7.6 billion in clean energy grants.
- The grants were for projects in states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
- The judge found the administration's actions violated the Constitution's equal protection requirements.
- The administration admitted to making grant termination decisions based on states' electoral support for Trump.
- The Energy Department stated officials disagree with the judge's decision.
A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration acted illegally when it canceled $7.6 billion in clean energy grants for projects in states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta stated the administration’s action violated the Constitution’s equal protection requirements.
Mehta wrote in his opinion that the administration freely admitted to making grant termination decisions primarily, if not exclusively, based on whether the awardee resided in a state whose citizens voted for President Trump in 2024. The judge found that the administration offered no explanation for how their purposeful targeting of grant recipients based on their electoral support for Trump—or lack of it—rationally advances their stated government interest.
The grants supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, including battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid, and efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions. The Energy Department had stated the projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable. Russell Vought, the White House budget director, had posted on social media that "the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled."
This ruling was the second legal setback for the administration’s rollback of clean energy programs. In total, 315 grants were terminated in October, ending support for 223 projects worth approximately $7.5 billion. All but one of the awardees were based in states where Donald Trump lost the majority vote to Kamala Harris in 2024. A spokesman for the Energy Department said officials disagree with the judge’s decision on clean energy grants.