Top Dems to DOE: ‘No legal authority’ to cancel grants

A group of top Democrats is accusing the Department of Energy of breaking the law by canceling nearly $4 billion of clean manufacturing grants authorized by the Biden administration.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) expressed concern that the process of canceling was “haphazard, disorganized, and politically driven.”
“DOE’s decision to terminate these projects runs afoul of the law,” the lawmakerstold Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a letter. “These programs were enshrined into law by bipartisan majorities and they represent the will of Congress. You have no legal authority to sabotage them.”
Heinrich is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Lofgren is the top Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and Pallone is the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In May, DOEcanceled two dozen grantsfor cement decarbonization, hydrogen, clean energy and carbon capture systems. The cancellations came just two weeks after DOEconvened a reviewon more than $15 billion in federal awards.
“We are disturbed that the Department intends to continue to use this same fatally flawed and politicized process to terminate more awards in the near future,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Department cancelled projects that would re-shore domestic manufacturing, increase domestic critical material production, and spur industrial innovations.”
The grants hit projects largely in Republican-leaning states led by major U.S. companies like Exxon Mobil and Kraft Heinz. Many of the companies are currently appealing the cancellations.
The grants were made with authority given to the DOE in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Wright has said the department aims to make final decisions on Biden-era energy grants and loans by the end of the summer.
DOE did not respond for comment.
The lawmakers called a June briefing from DOE on the cancellations “deeply concerning.” In the briefing, they said DOE admitted that the “decisions to terminate the awards were made entirely by a group of eight or nine political appointees.”
“In order to maintain the integrity of the Department’s merit-based review processes, political appointees have not historically participated in evaluating project applications,” the lawmakers said. “Such a capricious departure from independent, merit-based agency procedure warrants investigation.”
The lawmakers are requesting more information from DOE by Sept. 23 on the review process for the cancellations and additional DOE plans for cancellations, among other requests. Companies that appealed the cancellations met with DOE in July.
“There have not been any material updates from DOE to this point following our mid-July meeting with agency staff,” said David Perkins, senior vice president of sustainability and public affairs at the cement company Heidelberg Materials. “We continue to keep our federal and state representatives, as well as relevant jurisdictional committees, updated as we continue the administrative appeal process.”
Heidelberg received a $500 million grant for a carbon capture project in Indiana. Representatives from Eastman Chemical and National Cement Co. of California also confirmed to POLITICO’s E&E News that they are appealing the awards.
“We welcome DOE’s review of our project to ensure its alignment with President Trump’s priorities,” said Jon Dearing, vice president of strategy and public affairs at National Cement. “The alignment is very strong.”
National Cement received a $500 million grant to use clean energy, carbon capture and lower-carbon materials in its production process.