He told a similar story to the Science Committee in June.
His attorneys, under oath and under court order, said the opposite. Twice before, federal judges ordered these grants restored after the Department made the same confession.
Congress Member Profile|U.S. Representative|Democrat|California District 49
Mike Levin
SoupScoreanalysis-first civic rating · view full breakdown
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Voting Record — 612
Yes46%
No53%
Present1%
Not Voting1%
Party align97%
Cross-party3%
Mike Levin
U.S. RepresentativeDemocratCalifornia District 49
SoupScore
Mike's ATmosphere Activity
20 recent posts · 25 sponsored · 101 cosponsored
Recent ATmosphere posts, sponsorships, and cosponsorships.
The Department conceded it did not rely on “programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction, or performance-based factors.”
Grants in red states doing identical work were left untouched.
This is not a one-time slip by Wright, who told CNN last October the decisions were “all based on facts.”
In a July court filing, the Department of Energy admitted that 283 grants were canceled “solely” based on whether the recipient sat in a state that voted for Kamala Harris and elected two Democratic senators.
He looked me in the eye and called it “a timing question, not a decision question.”
He said “the decisions were nonpolitical.”
That was not true.
And now his own lawyers have admitted it.
On April 17, I sat across from Energy Secretary Chris Wright in an Appropriations hearing and asked a simple question about why his grant terminations landed almost entirely in blue states.
This is your daily reminder that Trump and Republicans are spending billions of your tax dollars on an unauthorized war in Iran and Stephen Miller’s ICE agenda while gutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and driving up your health care costs.
Reposted byMike Levin
In an Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this year, I questioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the billions his department canceled in clean energy grants.
He looked me in the eye and told me the decisions were made on the merits and had nothing to do with politics.
That was a lie.
You cannot withhold funds Congress appropriated as a weapon to punish states for how they voted. It is an abuse of power, plain and simple, and the people who lied to Congress about it need to answer for it.
I am not letting this go.
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
Every version was false, and now his own attorneys have said so in writing. This is illegal.
Politics, and nothing else.
The Energy Department’s own lawyers conceded not one of those grants was cut for any programmatic, statutory, or performance reason.
Wright said the same thing under oath to the Senate and the Science Committee.
The Trump administration has now admitted in its own court filings that it terminated nearly 300 energy grants “based solely” on the political identity of the recipient’s state, whether it voted for Kamala Harris and had two Democratic senators.
In an Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this year, I questioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the billions his department canceled in clean energy grants.
He looked me in the eye and told me the decisions were made on the merits and had nothing to do with politics.
That was a lie.
This is your daily reminder that Trump and Republicans are spending billions of your tax dollars on an unauthorized war in Iran and Stephen Miller’s ICE agenda while gutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and driving up your health care costs.
Reposted byMike Levin
This is really bad.
The New York Times reports that FBI managers were told the bureau will stop investigating violent confrontations involving immigration agents, handing those cases instead to an arm of ICE. In other words, letting the agency investigate itself.
These families deserve transparency and guidance they can trust. I will keep pressing until they have it.
ktla.com/news/califor...
I want to be clear about what we know and what we don’t. A cluster of cases is not proof of a cause.
That is exactly why we need a rigorous, independent investigation, so these families get real answers rather than speculation.
That is why I wrote to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting an immediate investigation into potential environmental causes and an assessment of whether other children are at risk. We expect a formal response soon.
Six children in the community have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma.
According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 200 children and teens in the entire country are diagnosed with this cancer each year. Six cases in one community is a number that warrants serious federal attention.
I’m closely following the deeply troubling pattern of childhood cancer in Ladera Ranch, and I’m standing with these families in my district as they demand answers.
This is your daily reminder that Trump and Republicans are spending billions of your tax dollars on an unauthorized war in Iran and Stephen Miller’s ICE agenda while gutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and driving up your health care costs.
SoupScore Breakdown
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Voting History612 total votesExpandCollapse
Voting History
612 total votes
Recent roll calls with party-majority context so it is easier to scan how this member tends to vote.
| Date | Bill | Question | Position | Party Maj | Align? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-30 | H.J. Res. 89 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-30 | H.J. Res. 87 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.J. Res. 60 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 859 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 1442 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H.R. 1402 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H. Res. 354 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-29 | H. Res. 354 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-28 | S. 146 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-28 | H.R. 973 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 22 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 22 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-10 | H. Con. Res. 14 (119th) | Accept Senate changes | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 1228 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-10 | H.R. 1526 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H.R. 1526 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-09 | S.J. Res. 18 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | S.J. Res. 28 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H. Res. 313 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-09 | H. Res. 313 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-08 | H. Res. 294 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-08 | H. Res. 294 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-07 | H.R. 1039 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-07 | H.R. 586 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-01 | H.R. 1491 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-04-01 | H. Res. 282 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-04-01 | H. Res. 282 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-31 | H.R. 997 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-31 | H.R. 517 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | NO | NO | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.R. 1048 (119th) | Approve amendment | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.J. Res. 75 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-27 | H.J. Res. 24 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H. Res. 242 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H. Res. 242 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-25 | H.R. 1534 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-24 | H.R. 1326 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-24 | H.R. 359 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.J. Res. 25 (119th) | Final passage | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1968 (119th) | Final passage | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1968 (119th) | Send back to committee | YES | YES | ✓ | Failed |
| 2025-03-11 | H.R. 1156 (119th) | Final passage | YES | NO | ✕↔ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H. Res. 211 (119th) | Approve resolution | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-11 | H. Res. 211 (119th) | End debate now | NO | NO | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 993 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 901 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
| 2025-03-10 | H.R. 495 (119th) | Fast-track passage | YES | YES | ✓ | Passed |
Alignment stats consider only votes where a clear yes/no majority existed for the legislator's party. Cross-party marks divergence where the vote matched the opposite party majority. ↔ indicates cross-party divergence.