On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) criticized the Donald Trump administration after a court filing acknowledged that more than $7.5 billion in federal clean energy grants were selected for termination based on whether recipient states backed Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Court Filing Sparks Blue State Grant Controversy
In a post on X, Newsom wrote, “The corrupt Trump administration has just admitted to withholding taxpayer dollars from states based on how they voted.”
He added, “Last I checked we were a democracy, not a dictatorship. Where the hell is Congress?”
The corrupt Trump administration has just admitted to withholding taxpayer dollars from states based on how they voted.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 24, 2026
Last I checked we were a democracy, not a dictatorship.
Where the hell is Congress?
The controversy stems from court filings in a lawsuit challenging the cancellation of Biden-era clean energy funding, The Guardian reported.
According to the filing, the Department of Energy accepted that the grants included in an October termination notice were not chosen based on “programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction or performance-based” criteria.
Instead, the filing stated that the grants were selected “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” specifically whether the projects were located in a “Blue State” or a non-Blue State.
DOE Pushes Back On Interpretation
The Department of Energy disputed claims that it admitted politically motivated grant cancellations.
In a statement Friday, a department spokesperson said reports characterizing the filing as an admission were “a misrepresentation of the court filing.”
The spokesperson added, “None of the termination decisions were based on political considerations,” arguing that references to political identity related only to the timing of the announcement rather than the decisions themselves.
Federal Grant Policy Faces Legal, Political Scrutiny
The lawsuit was filed by a group of University of California faculty members and researchers who argue the administration unlawfully canceled previously awarded grants as part of a broader political campaign against Joe Biden-era programs.
The dispute comes as the White House seeks greater authority over discretionary federal funding.
It proposes that future grants must, where applicable, “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities,” a move that has intensified concerns over the role of politics in distributing federal funds.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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