Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (October 3, 2025) — Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation — Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-06), Rep. Richard Neal (MA-01), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-05), Rep. Bill Keating (MA-09), Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) and Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-02) — today wrote to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, demanding answers about the list of Department of Energy (DOE) grant cancellations attributed to Massachusetts companies and organizations, which were first announced in a Wednesday social media post by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. The post declared that grants would be cancelled “in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA,” implying a political motive, although the list of cancelled grants was far more haphazard and included both misattributed grants and grants in other states, such as Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee.

The lawmakers write, “The DOE released a list yesterday of the purported grant cancellations demanded by Vought, but it has yet to convey any information to grantees or to members of Congress as to what these cancellations mean for projects with ongoing work, open reimbursement requests, and other activities throughout the country. These terminations will hamstring American competitiveness, drive up energy costs, and hurt domestic manufacturing. And it will undermine investments in American innovation for years to come—ceding ground to China and other nations that understand the merit of technological development and investment.”

The lawmakers continue, “And this is yet another action that the Trump administration is taking that will push electricity bills even higher. Electricity prices have increased 10 percent and are rising twice as fast as the overall rate of inflation since Trump has taken office, and the DOE and Vought’s attack on energy technology funding is going to ensure that trend continues to escalate.”

The lawmakers requested answers to the following questions by October 10, 2025:

1. Please provide all documentation between the DOE and the Office of Management and Budget that directs the cancellation of awards.
2. Please provide a detailed explanation of the appeals process available to awardees, as referenced in your press release.
3. Has the DOE analyzed the negative impact that these cancellations will have on domestic manufacturing, energy prices, and market confidence?
4. Russell Vought said that DOE was cancelling grants “in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA.” However, the list of cancelled projects distributed by DOE also included grants in Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee, and the grants in Vought’s named states will also affect manufacturing, research, and jobs in states across the country. If the political affiliation or perceived political affiliation of the states affected by these terminations was a factor in the decision to attempt to kill these investments, please provide any legal analysis upon which this decision relied.

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