According to the U.S. Newsweek, on the 12th local time, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration's move to terminate nearly $8 billion in energy project funding violated the Constitution as it primarily targeted "Democratic-leaning states."
The report said that Mehta issued a 17-page opinion ruling that the Department of Energy's decision to terminate the funding violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling required the Department of Energy to restore seven specific grants totaling $27.6 million, which were part of over 200 energy projects that had been announced for termination.
The report summarized Mehta's words, stating that, except for one, all grant recipients were from "states where most voters did not support President Donald Trump in the 2024 election."
According to the non-profit NOTUS news website, the Department of Energy's decision mainly targeted grantees in "blue states" (Democratic-led states), while institutions in "red states" (Republican-led states) that received federal funds for similar projects were largely unaffected, leading to differential treatment across hundreds of projects nationwide.
The report said that the White House and the Office of Management and Budget have not yet responded to the news.
On October 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the termination of 223 energy projects, with a total of approximately $7.56 billion in funds. These projects mainly involved clean energy and renewable energy, and states where the Democratic candidate won the 2024 presidential election were generally affected. According to U.S. media reports, the Trump administration disclosed on October 1, 2023, that it would use the government shutdown beginning that day to freeze $26 billion in federal funds directed at "Democratic-leaning states." These 223 projects were part of this, and the affected states included California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Harris won in these 16 states. Some Democrats criticized the Trump administration's move as "political retaliation."
To please conservative voters and traditional energy industry workers, the Trump administration has continuously scaled back new energy policies. On January 27, 2025, the United States officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement aimed at addressing climate change. By the end of May 2025, the Trump administration canceled a $3.7 billion funding plan for 24 emerging energy technology projects under the previous administration. In July 2025, the "Big and Beautiful" bill signed by Trump eliminated clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits. The Trump administration also paused approvals for new wind and solar projects while allowing the use of carryover funds to continue oil and gas development activities.
Source: Global Times
Original: toutiao.com/article/7594749249850458670/
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