Particle.news
Download on the App Store
96 ARTICLES
·
2h ago

Trump Administration Axes $7.6 Billion in Energy Awards, Freezes New York and Chicago Transit Funds

Officials frame the moves as taxpayer protection under new reviews, with recipients facing tight appeal windows.

President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Washington, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, look on. ( (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget director, listens as he addresses members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Image
A view of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s wind farm in Kern County’s Tehachapi Mountains on March 23, 2021. The agency is one of many California organizations losing chunks of federal funding under a new Department of Energy cut.

Overview

  • The Department of Energy terminated 321 awards supporting 223 projects for a stated savings of about $7.56 billion, and awardees have 30 days to appeal.
  • The cancellations touch hydrogen hubs and grid and manufacturing initiatives, including up to $1.2 billion for California’s ARCHES hub and about $1 billion for a Pacific Northwest project, with OMB’s Russell Vought listing 16 affected states.
  • USDOT froze nearly $18 billion for New York’s Hudson Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway and later put $2.1 billion for Chicago’s Red Line Extension and Red and Purple Modernization on hold under a new rule scrutinizing race- and sex-based contracting.
  • Energy Secretary Chris Wright said project reviews found insufficient returns and weak alignment with national energy needs, while Vought cast the cuts as targeting what he called climate agenda funding and critics warned of job losses, higher costs and grid risks.
  • Governors, environmental groups and lawmakers signaled challenges and began appeals, as the actions follow an earlier $13 billion rescission of unspent clean‑energy funds and ongoing shutdown-era budget confrontations.