Live updates: Government shutdown extends, Trump administration warns of layoffs

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday the recent climate funding cuts to primarily Democratic-led states announced by Trump’s budget director were not tied to the federal shutdown and will not be reinstated once it ends.

“These cancellation decisions, absolutely not tied to the government shutdown,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.”

Wright said the cuts were “business decisions on whether it’s a good use of the taxpayer money or not,” and he said the “projects will not be restored.”

While Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced the cuts yesterday, Wright said the decisions were made in the Energy Department and were the product of “thousands of work hours to evaluate these projects.” Pressed on whether the cuts targeted states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Wright insisted decisions on other states “haven’t been announced yet.”

“As this fall goes on, you’ll see cancellations in red and blue states,” he said.

Some context: The canceled funding currently totals $7.56 billion and includes projects that were launched under the Biden administration and overseen by multiple parts of the department, from renewable energy to fossil fuels, according to a recent release from the Energy Department.

Affected states currently include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

Before the shutdown began, the Trump administration signaled that it could weaponize the funding lapse to move quickly on its political priorities, a strategy that is now causing unease among some Republicans.

Trump appears willing to move forward with its plans, announcing Thursday that he’s tasked Vought with determining which “Democrat Agencies” to cut.