E&C Democratic Leaders Demand Answers from Energy Secretary Wright After He Lied to Committee About Grant Cancellations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Energy and Commerce Committee Democratic leaders are demanding answers from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright after the Department of Energy (DOE) admitted it has been targeting grant cancellations toward states that did not vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. DOE’s admission in federal court reveals that Secretary Wright lied to the Committee at an April hearing, during which he falsely testified that politics played no role in grant cancellations and that DOE was not using grant decisions to punish Americans who did not vote for President Trump.

The letter was sent by Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Energy Subcommittee Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY).

“In letters, hearings, and questions for the record, we have asked you and DOE employees to explain and justify DOE cancelling grants to states that did not support Donald Trump in the 2024 election. In response, you and DOE employees repeatedly stated that politics played no role in the cancellation of grants and claimed that the suspension or termination of grants was based on a rigorous internal process,” the three Committee leaders wrote to Secretary Wright. “But now DOE representatives have said the exact opposite in court, finally admitting that DOE grants were terminated purely for partisan reasons.”

In April, Secretary Wright testified to the Committee that, under his leadership, DOE had not cancelled any grants based on how a state voted in 2024 election. However, just one month later, DOE admitted that a “primary reason” for the cancellation of certain grants was “whether the grantee was located in a ‘Blue State.’” DOE then went even further in another case, stipulating that the termination of certain DOE grants “was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state.”

These admissions directly contradict representations made by DOE to the Committee on at least three occasions: April correspondence from DOE to the Committee; April testimony from Secretary Wright before the Committee; and July DOE responses to Questions for the Record.

“Each instance is concerning on its own,” Pallone, Castor, and Clarke wrote. “Taken together, they show a calculated effort to mislead the Committee and the American people about your agency’s willingness to carry out President Trump’s partisan revenge, harming businesses, and driving up energy prices in the process.”

In directly addressing Wright’s misleading testimony, they continued:

“Your testimony before the Committee was false. You claimed that DOE’s decisions regarding grants did not involve politics. But your decision to terminate grants on the basis of their connection to Blue States unambiguously involved politics and the decision to make those terminations was—in the words of multiple DOE employees—a DOE decision, regardless of any request or recommendation from OMB.”

The three Democratic Committee leaders are demanding detailed answers and documents pertaining to the DOE’s coordinated efforts to deceive Congress, in addition to a briefing to address the agency’s false representations and inappropriate politicization of federal funding.

Read the full letter HERE.

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