Summary
NOTUS reports that OMB Director Russell Vought announced on Day 1 of the government shutdown the cancellation of nearly $8B in energy grants to 321 projects across 16 states — all of which voted for Kamala Harris in 2024. States targeted include CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA. Simultaneously, Vought was also freezing $18B in NYC infrastructure funding.
Key Points
- $8B targeted at 16 states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA — all voted Harris 2024
- 321 awards across 223 projects in grid, renewable energy, fossil energy, clean energy demonstrations, manufacturing supply chains offices
- Affected states received no official notice from DOE before Vought’s X post; learned of cuts from media
- MN Department of Commerce called its $464M transmission line cancellation “illegal”
- Colorado and California Energy Commission had not received official notice by the next day
- Vought simultaneously announcing $8B energy cuts and $18B NYC freeze — coordinated Day 1 shutdown political assault
- Patent and Trademark Office began firing personnel hours after funding lapsed
Newsletter Angles
- The Day 1 coordination is the story: the moment the shutdown began, pre-prepared political targeting was deployed simultaneously. This was planned, not reactive
- States received no official notice before a tweet — government by X post is now the normal operating procedure
Entities Mentioned
- Donald Trump — administration directing the cuts
- Russell Vought — OMB director; announced via X post
Concepts Mentioned
- Regulatory Weaponization — using shutdown to weaponize discretionary spending against political opponents
- Coercive Diplomacy — “Pass the CR and all of this goes away”
Notes
NOTUS. October 1, 2025. First of two NOTUS pieces on the energy cancellations; the companion piece (Oct. 2) documents the red-state carveout.