U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said on July 25 that the Department of Energy admitted in recent court filings to halting at least $7.5 billion in funding for energy projects based solely on whether states had supported President Trump in the 2024 election.
Whitehouse said, “President Trump is doing everything he can to enable his fossil fuel donors to jack up Americans’ energy prices and to him, it’s all the better if he can simultaneously punish his perceived political adversaries. Depriving half the country of congressionally directed awards that their tax dollars paid for because they did not vote for a certain political party is a dangerous, un-American game.”
According to a stipulation filed in Federal District Court in California on July 15, lawyers for the Department of Energy stated that “the inclusion of grants in the October [2025] notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state, i.e., whether the recipient’s location and/or place of performance was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State.” At least two grants were canceled in Rhode Island.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee oversees federal programs related to environmental quality, natural resources and infrastructure with nationwide effects. The committee also influences federal policy on environmental regulations, wildlife protection and infrastructure maintenance across the nation; it maintains its administrative base in the Senate Dirksen Office Building and collaborates through subcommittees focused on clean air, water resources and transportation infrastructure, according to the official website.
Shelley Moore Capito chairs this committee, with members including Kevin Cramer and Cynthia Lummis.