Overview
- Representative Gabe Amo pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the October 2025 cancellations and quoted court filings that said DOE attorneys used a grantee’s presence in a 'blue state' as a primary reason for selecting terminations.
- Wright denied that politics influenced the review, then responded to questioning with a profanity and was told to 'Watch your language' by Republican Chair Brian Babin during the June 10 House Science, Space and Technology hearing.
- The October 2025 review scrubbed more than 300 Biden-era clean energy awards and affected nearly $8 billion in projects, leaving many grants stalled even after some plaintiffs won in court.
- Local impacts include at least $14 million in canceled awards for three Rhode Island projects, and lawmakers warned the cuts have slowed clean-energy work and raised costs for constituents.
- Coverage split by focus: outlet accounts called out the profanity and partisan angle, while policy reporting placed the episode in a wider review of DOE actions on oil, nuclear goals, and a disputed climate study that together have intensified oversight and legal fallout.