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Grant recipients say their funding was targeted because they are located in states led by Democrats.

The Department of Energy in Washington. Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images

Department of Energy grant recipients are suing the Trump administration over the cancellation of millions of dollars of funding for energy projects based in Democratic-led states.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers and other challengers allege DOE discriminated against them by canceling funding last October for projects targeting increased energy efficiency, critical minerals reclamation, and advancing solar and hydrogen technologies.

“Every Plaintiff did nothing wrong other than being located in a state whose citizens vote for the political party that the current government disfavors,” the grantees said in the lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“The equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment does not countenance Defendants’ conduct; partisan discrimination and retribution are not a rational basis for differentiating between similarly situated federal grantees,” they said.

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