{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-schiff-lofgren-lead-california-democrats-in-blasting-trumps-unlawful-energy-projects-cuts-call-for-nearly-8-billion-to-be-reinstated/", "Padilla, Schiff, Lofgren Lead California Democrats in Blasting Trump\u2019s Unlawful Energy Projects Cuts, Call for Nearly $8 Billion to be Reinstated", "2025-10-23", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "California Lawmakers: This Administration \u201cis focused on vindictive, destructive actions that will keep us dependent on innovations and expertise from foreign competitors and further raise costs for American families.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), along with Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Chair of the California Democratic Congressional delegation, led 27 Democratic California lawmakers in denouncing the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) cuts of $7.6 billion in critical grants for energy projects across California and the country. DOE\u2019s list of cuts includes 79 projects and over $3.3 billion in investment across California, with over $2 billion in projects eliminated from Republican-represented districts in California. The funding for these projects was approved and appropriated by Congress, and the cuts violate existing bipartisan law while threatening to further raise energy costs.\n\nIn their letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the California lawmakers made clear that these vindictive cuts will weaken our electrical grids, harm American workers and manufacturing, and threaten communities who depend on these projects for reliable energy sources. They emphasized that these cuts fly in the face of the Administration\u2019s stated priorities while abandoning their purported goal of securing \u201cAmerican energy dominance.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe write to express our outrage at the unlawful cancellation of nearly $8 billion of crucial Department of Energy grants supporting projects which, if reinstated, would make our country\u2019s electric grids, industrial processes, and workforce stronger, safer, and more resilient,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\n\u201cMany of these projects had already begun implementation, and their cancellation abandons hardworking Americans for the sake of cheap, partisan retribution. The DOE\u2019s $7.6 billion in cancellations do not bring our country any closer to American Energy Dominance. Instead, they threaten the country\u2019s progress toward reliable, resilient, and affordable energy for all and undermine thousands of American jobs along the way,\u201d continued the lawmakers.\n\nThese cuts targeting Democratic-led states like California were telegraphed earlier this year by reports of a DOE \u201chit list\u201d of awards, contracts, and projects \u2014 many of which have already begun construction \u2014 that the Administration was considering canceling. The list contained California\u2019s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) hydrogen hub and other California projects for which the Trump Administration is intending to withhold funding, including all $1.2 billion for ARCHES.\n\nThe list of cut projects also includes important energy storage projects that would add \u201cdispatchable capacity\u201d to help meet energy demand, going back on DOE\u2019s stated goals. For instance, one canceled project would provide $30 million to build long-duration energy storage capacity for Valley Children\u2019s Hospital in Madera, California, a critical Central Valley facility that that serves 1.3 million children. The project would have provided essential, dispatchable backup power for the hospital\u2019s operations, but now the Valley\u2019s only children\u2019s hospital with either an emergency medicine facility or a Level IV NICU facility for critically ill newborns will be left vulnerable to grid failure.\n\nAdditionally, projects in Republican-represented districts have been canceled that would have supported grid reliability and affordability, bolstered cement and glass manufacturing, improved carbon capture and storage, and facilitated cleaner and safer oil and gas use and processing. These projects would improve air quality in neighboring communities and reduce carbon emissions, while creating good-paying jobs for Californians of all political backgrounds.\n\nIn addition to Padilla, Schiff, and Lofgren, the letter was also signed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.-11) and U.S. Representatives Nanette Barrag\u00e1n (D-Calif.-44), Ami Bera (D-Calif.-06), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.-16), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.-07), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Norma Torres (D-Calif.-35), Derek Tran (D-Calif.-45), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52), and George Whitesides (D-Calif.-27).\n\nSenators Padilla and Schiff have strongly opposed the Department of Energy\u2019s recent project cuts. Earlier this month, Padilla and Schiff joined 35 Senators in demanding that Secretary Wright and Director Vought restore funding for 223 energy projects in Democratic-led states that the Trump Administration unlawfully canceled. The California Senators also blasted the Department\u2019s cancellation of all $1.2 billion Padilla secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for California\u2019s ARCHES hydrogen hub. Padilla, Schiff, and Representatives Whitesides and Levin previously led a bipartisan, bicameral delegation of 45 lawmakers in urging DOE to preserve funding for hydrogen production hubs, including ARCHES. Padilla, Schiff, and 25 other Democratic Senators also sounded the alarm on DOE\u2019s \u201chit list\u201d of key energy projects, demanding Secretary of Energy Chris Wright follow the law and preserve the hydrogen hub program. Additionally, Padilla questioned President Trump\u2019s nominee for Deputy Secretary of Energy on the \u201chit list,\u201d highlighting the importance of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program to \u201cjumpstart\u201d the national hydrogen economy and urging him to protect vital funding for ARCHES.\n\nFull text of the letter is available here and below:\n\nDear Secretary Wright and Director Vought:\n\nWe write to express our outrage at the unlawful cancellation of nearly $8 billion of crucial Department of Energy grants supporting projects which, if reinstated, would make our country\u2019s electric grids, industrial processes, and workforce stronger, safer, and more resilient.\n\nOn October 1, 2025, OMB Director Russell Vought claimed that the $7.6 billion cancellations were \u201cGreen New Scam\u201d projects benefiting only Democratic climate priorities, yet over $2 billion in funding has been pulled from Republican-represented districts in California alone. These projects were set to promote energy reliability, affordability, and safety for Americans. Clearly, the administration is not really working toward a \u201cGolden Era of American Energy Dominance\u201d, and instead is focused on vindictive, destructive actions that will keep us dependent on innovations and expertise from foreign competitors and further raise costs for American families.\n\nOn October 3, 2025, California\u2019s Senators decried the cancellation of one of the State\u2019s most important projects for the next generation of energy technology: $1.2 billion for California\u2019s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy (ARCHES) Hydrogen Hub. The full list of cancelled grants and awards recently released by the Department of Energy (DOE) worsens this egregious, vindictive action by the DOE and cancels additional crucial projects, totaling almost $7.6 billion in investments toward energy reliability, innovation, and affordability.\n\nIn many cases, projects are being cancelled despite being aligned with the Administration\u2019s stated priorities. For example, DOE is cancelling critical energy storage projects which would add \u201cdispatchable capacity,\u201d exactly what DOE has claimed it wants to prioritize. One such cancelled project would provide $30 million to build long-duration energy storage capacity for Valley Children\u2019s Hospital in Madera, CA. Valley Children\u2019s is a critical facility in the Central Valley that serves 1.3 million children and provides the Valley\u2019s only children\u2019s hospital with an Emergency Medicine facility as well as the Valley\u2019s only Level IV NICU facility for critically ill newborns. The cancelled project would have added vital, dispatchable backup power to critical hospital operations. Nevertheless, the DOE seems to believe that the welfare of children in the Central Valley is inconsistent with the Trump Administration\u2019s priorities.\n\nCancelled projects also include critical improvements to grid reliability and affordability. For instance, $13 million was clawed back from Liberty Utilities\u2019 Leapfrog program to improve service and reliability for communities, particularly rural communities. A number of these cancelled projects go beyond critical improvements to the grid. Some of the country\u2019s most innovative industrial projects have also been axed, including groundbreaking improvements in cement and glass manufacturing aimed at protecting clean, breathable air in communities as well as providing key workforce development to create and train for good-paying jobs. These include $75 million for the Gallos Glass Project and $500 million for the National Cement Company of California\u2019s Lebec Net-Zero Project. These projects in Republican-represented districts have not been spared from these unlawful terminations that will only hurt hard-working American families and leave us even further away from securing \u201cEnergy Dominance.\u201d\n\nEven projects intended to support clean, safe oil and gas use and processing to secure \u201cfirm, dispatchable capacity\u201d are being threatened by the Administration\u2019s reckless cancellations. Carbon capture and storage is a promising approach to reducing the emissions footprint of traditionally carbon-intensive processes and products. Projects like the Kern County Community College District\u2019s Direct Air Capture hub have been unceremoniously cancelled despite providing research, workforce training, and technological support to this developing technology.\n\nMany of these projects had already begun implementation, and their cancellation abandons hardworking Americans for the sake of cheap, partisan retribution. The DOE\u2019s $7.6 billion in cancellations do not bring our country any closer to American Energy Dominance. Instead, they threaten the country\u2019s progress toward reliable, resilient, and affordable energy for all and undermine thousands of American jobs along the way.\n\nWe urge you to reinstate funding for California\u2019s projects. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-schiff-lofgren-lead-california-democrats-in-blasting-trumps-unlawful-energy-projects-cuts-call-for-nearly-8-billion-to-be-reinstated/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1090938933193684, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}