Ranking Members Raskin and Huffman Slam Trump Administration’s Taxpayer-Funded Billion-Dollar Giveaway at the Expense of Clean Energy

Washington, D.C. (April 6, 2026)— Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Acting Inspector General Caryl Brzymialkiewicz demanding answers on the Trump administration’s scheme to kill clean, affordable offshore wind energy for more oil and gas development.

“The federal Judgment Fund is used to settle lawsuits against the federal government in specific legal cases and controversies. There is no lawsuit being settled here. The Trump administration simply wants to make a billion-dollar payment out of the Judgment Fund to a foreign energy company to get them to walk away from leases they signed to develop offshore wind energy and to pledge not to develop any new offshore wind projects. Beyond being terrible public policy, this is a completely lawless and improper abuse of the Judgment Fund,” said Ranking Member Raskin.

The lawmakers said the deal “directly undercuts American energy security by ending offshore wind leases that would have provided reliable, affordable energy for American families” noting it will “tie domestic energy prices more closely to volatile global fossil fuel markets at a moment when prices are already reaching historic highs due to President Trump’s unjustified and illegal war on Iran.”

The lawmakers raised red flags about the apparent corruption and misuse of taxpayer dollars. "On its face, this agreement is an unprecedented use of taxpayer funds to pay a private company for voluntarily relinquishing legally obtained leases.” 

“Ironically, the administration touts the settlement as ending 'ideological subsidies,’” the lawmakers wrote, noting that the “settlement” uses taxpayer money to reimburse private investments in the President’s preferred energy source. They further warned that the agreement could violate federal appropriations law and the Anti-Deficiency Act, which prevents coercive spending by agencies. 

“There is no clear legal basis for this closed-door settlement, which allows the administration to subsidize its preferred energy sources regardless of what’s best for the American people. President Trump has been relentless in his attacks on affordable, clean energy. This backdoor deal to cancel these projects will undeniably have negative economic, environmental, and national security impacts for which this administration must answer,” they said.

The Ranking Members are calling on the administration to immediately turn over documents and answer questions on: 

1. What legal authority the administration is using to reimburse a private company for the cancelled offshore wind leases.
2. Whether any lawsuit exists to justify calling this a “settlement” and what communications led to the agreement.
3. Why the deal appears to bypass transparency rules for settlements, including those newly required by Secretary Burgum.
4. What role the Department of Justice played.
5. Where the nearly $1 billion of taxpayer funding will come from.
6. Whether similar buyouts are being offered to other offshore wind developers.
7. What analysis was done on the economic, environmental, and energy impacts of canceling these projects.
8. Whether the administration pressured the company to abandon clean energy and prioritize fossil fuels.

A full copy of the letter to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice can be found HERE.

The Ranking Members additionally sent a separate letter to TotalEnergies, the energy company involved in the deal. A full copy of that letter can be found HERE. 

Background: 

On March 23, 2026, the Department of the Interior announced a “settlement” agreement with TotalEnergies to cancel offshore wind leases in the Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight. Under the terms of the settlement, TotalEnergies would receive nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds to reimburse it for costs it has already paid to develop windfarms capable of powering more than 1.2 million households with cheap, clean, renewable energy. In order to receive this payment, the company is required to make dollar-for-dollar investments in U.S. oil, gas, and LNG export infrastructure and to refrain from any investment in any new offshore wind projects in the United States. The deal could shift energy investments away from domestic clean energy production and towards fossil fuel exports, further driving up costs for American families and making American energy less secure. This backdoor deal arises only after the federal courts have blocked all five of the administration’s attempts to pause offshore wind leases.