Press Release

The letter follows an admission from the Trump Admin that the decision to cancel energy project grants in states that did not vote for Trump was “ based solely ” on politics WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) , Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development , Energy , and Credit , joined U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) , Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee , U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) , Vice Chair of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee , and 36 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought demanding that the Trump Administration restore funding for the 223 energy projects canceled in October 2025. All Senators who cosigned this letter are from states with canceled grants and funding signed the letter. The letter comes after the Trump Administration admitted to illegally canceling energy grants because those projects were in states that did not vote for President Trump in the 2024 election. “Now that court documents have confirmed what we knew to be true, we write to demand that you restore previously awarded funding that the Trump administration has weaponized in an attempt to punish perceived political enemies,” the Senators wrote . “Once an administration begins punishing Americans for how they vote, the threat extends far beyond these projects: no state, community, business, or worker can trust that the federal government will apply the law fairly,” the Senators continued . “This is not only an attack on jobs, affordable energy, and America’s economic competitiveness. It is an attack on the rule of law and the basic democratic principle that the federal government serves the entire country—not merely those who support the President.” “At a time when energy prices are skyrocketing, the administration is hell-bent on political retribution instead of working to bring down costs for millions of Americans. The American people deserve to have a government that works for them—not one that is willing to push energy prices even higher and put the country’s energy security at grave risk,” the Senators concluded . “For the good of our country, the rule of law, and the American people, we demand that you change course and restore the previously awarded funding.” Alongside Senators Welch, Heinrich, and Murray, the letter was signed by U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mazie Hirono (D- Hawaii), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Angus King (I-Maine). Read and download the Senators’ full letter to DOE Secretary Wright and OMB Director Vought. ###