US President Donald Trump [AP]
US President Donald Trump [AP]

The Trump administration acknowledged in court that it used a state's political leanings as a criterion for cutting clean energy subsidies — confirming suspicions that it had singled out states that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris for cancellation.

CNN reported Saturday that court filings made public during a lawsuit brought by University of California researchers revealed the details. In documents submitted July 15, the US Department of Energy stated that grants targeted for October notification "were determined based on whether the state of the recipient was a blue state or not." The filing amounts to a written acknowledgment that political affiliation drove the budget decisions.

According to the documents, the Energy Department sent the White House Office of Management and Budget a list of more than 600 grants allocated to states where Harris had won and where two Democratic senators held office, recommending their cancellation. The OMB acted on that recommendation and halted payment on 284 of those grants last October.

The reaction was swift. Senate Democratic floor leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the administration had "admitted to cutting off hardworking families' livelihoods to take revenge on people who didn't vote for him," calling it "sick and deranged behavior." Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, described it as "sweeping partisan retaliation and an unconstitutional act of betrayal." Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Sen. Patty Murray, both members of the Appropriations Committee, said in a joint statement that the administration had "admitted to abusing power to eliminate good-paying jobs and punish families for their political views," adding that "weaponizing the federal government is un-American."

The disclosure fits a pattern of politically targeted budget decisions that has recurred under Donald Trump's second term. Earlier this year, the administration moved to cut $10 billion in social welfare funding aimed at five Democratic-leaning states but backed down after courts intervened.


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