A new lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of “political retribution” in its recent decision to cancel a slate of energy projects that are primarily located in blue states.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday by environment and energy-focused organizations, as well as the city of St. Paul, asks the court to restore the funding that the administration canceled.
It argues that the project cancellations violate the First and Fifth amendments, saying that projects were targeted based on the political leanings of the states they are located in.
“Animus and political retribution are the only explanations for the differential treatment of terminated and non-terminated DOE [Department of Energy] awardees here,” the suit states.
Last month, the Trump administration announced that it was canceling funds for nearly $7.6 billion in energy projects.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought first announced the cancellations in a social media post, describing the money as “nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda”.
“The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA,” he added.
All of those states voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, rather than President Trump, in the 2024 election.
While many of the projects whose funding was canceled were located in blue states, some were also in red states.
Spokespeople for OMB and the Energy Department, which canceled the funding, did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said that projects impacting both Republican and Democrat-led states will see funding canceled this fall.
“As this fall goes on, you’ll see cancellations in red and blue states,” Wright told CNN.