"The Trump administration violated the Fifth Amendment when canceling billions of dollars in environmental grants for projects in "blue states" that didn't vote for him in the last election, a judge ruled Monday. Trump's blatant discrimination came on the same day as the government shut down last fall. In total, 315 grants were terminated in October, ending support for 223 projects worth approximately $7.5 billion, the Department of Energy confirmed."
"Only seven awardees sued, defending projects that helped states with "electric vehicle development, updating building energy codes, and addressing methane emissions." They accused Trump officials of clearly discriminating against Democratic voters by pointing to their social media posts boasting about punishing blue states. On X, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, bragged that nearly "$8 billion in Green NewScam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda is being cancelled," then listed only states that did not vote for Trump."
"Meanwhile on Truth Social, Trump confirmed he met with Vought to "determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut" during the shutdown. On Monday, US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his opinion that the case was "unique" because ordinarily "the mere presence of political considerations in an agency action" does not mean that officials have run "afoul of the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection.""
A federal judge found the Fifth Amendment violated when the administration canceled billions in environmental grants during a government shutdown. Officials terminated 315 grants in October, stopping support for 223 projects worth about $7.5 billion. All but one awardee were in states where Donald Trump lost the majority vote to Kamala Harris in 2024. Only seven awardees sued to defend projects including electric vehicle development, building energy code updates, and methane reduction. Senior officials posted on social media celebrating cuts to funding for states that did not vote for Trump. Judge Amit Mehta described the case as unique under equal-protection analysis.
Read at Ars Technica
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]