California files another lawsuit against the Trump admin: “Partisan retribution”
Sacramento, California – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by state energy and economic development leaders, has filed a federal lawsuit over the Trump administration’s decision to stop billions of dollars in financing for national energy and infrastructure projects that Congress approved. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and has the support of a group of 13 attorneys general from across the country.
The complaint is about things that the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget did. Their executives ordered the end of grants related to important federal statutes including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
State officials say that the cancellations include more than $1.2 billion that was supposed to go to California’s clean hydrogen development project, ARCHES, and $4 million that was supposed to help modernize building codes to make them more energy-efficient through the Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation program.
“The President is cherry-picking this funding at the expense of hardworking Americans and stifling innovation and the economy for the sake of partisan retribution. My office will continue to hold the President and his administration accountable for breaking the law,” AG Bonta said.
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State leaders say that the cuts to financing hurt initiatives that are meant to lessen pollution, lower energy costs, and create more jobs. California officials say that the hydrogen effort alone was supposed to create more than 200,000 union jobs while also improving air quality and public health. The lawsuit says that taking away these payments will negatively impact economic growth, raise emissions, and take away health savings that areas that are already dealing with pollution were expecting.
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The lawsuit also says that the disagreement started with executive actions taken at the beginning of President Trump’s term in January 2025. These steps were followed by internal agency studies and later declarations that several programs would be ending.
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California and its allies say that federal agencies can’t get rid of programs that were authorized by Congress because doing so would go against the Constitution’s separation of powers principles and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The coalition is asking the court to say that the funding terminations are illegal and to stop further interference with the programs that are affected. Bonta is co-leading the case with the attorneys general of Colorado and Washington, as well as those from other states in the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Coast.
