Energy Secretary Chris Wright said politics never decided which grants got canceled, and his own lawyers just told a court it was the only thing that did.
They agreed in writing on Friday that all but one of the 284 canceled grants, $7.5 billion worth, went to a state Kamala Harris won, and that nothing about cost or performance went into picking them. A judge already ruled against them twice this year, pointing out that comparable projects in states Trump won were left running.
Wright called the accusation bullshit in front of the House Science Committee last month and promised to keep saying so a million times. The Energy Department spent Friday insisting the filing was about the timing of an announcement. They denied it everywhere except in court.
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Transportation Secretary Duffy asks Congress to direct Amtrak to rename Penn Station, months after officials dangled $16 billion in tunnel funds for naming it after Trump.
Today’s GovBrief News
Trump administration plans to send two State Department envoys to Brazil to question its electoral system before the October presidential vote, officials tell the Washington Post.
Source: The Washington Post
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Iran attacks U.S. bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait as officials warn the war is depleting interceptor stockpiles planned to deter China.
Source: CBS News
July 24, 2026
CDC links cyclosporiasis outbreaks in four more states to tainted lettuce as confirmed and suspected cases near 12,000 nationwide.
Source: NBC News
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Taylor Farms called the White House through a former Trump aide turned lobbyist to seek delay of the recall announcement in the cyclospora outbreak, WSJ reports.
Source: The Wall Street Journal [gift link]
July 24, 2026
Energy Department admits in court it canceled $7.5 billion in clean energy grants based solely on whether states voted Democratic, contradicting sworn testimony denying politics.
Source: The Independent
July 24, 2026
Trump orders the Smithsonian's American History museum to post signs warning visitors about exhibits a White House report calls radical social justice activism.
Source: UPI
July 24, 2026
Trump launches a trade investigation of the EU one day after it fined Google 890 million euros, calling European tech penalties robbery of American taxpayers.
Source: Euronews
July 24, 2026
USDA will resume limited Mexican cattle imports through one Arizona port starting Aug. 24, ending a yearlong closure as 41 of 42 U.S. screwworm cases hit Texas.
Source: The Texas Tribune
July 24, 2026
Trump left the NATO summit on the old Air Force One after intelligence showed Iranian proxies planned a missile attack on the Qatari jet, reports say.
Source: The Guardian
July 24, 2026
Biden drops his lawsuit blocking release of his private ghostwriter recordings, clearing DOJ to hand them to House Republicans and the Heritage Foundation.
Source: The Associated Press
July 24, 2026
ICE officer linked to Maine's fatal shooting was ruled not credible by a judge last year, and records contradict his claimed police employment, the Washington Post reports.
Source: The Washington Post
July 24, 2026
Lab tests confirm the white powder in Lorenzo Salgado's van was electrolyte mix, not drugs, after an ICE officer killed him and the FBI implied methamphetamine.
Source: KHOU Houston
July 24, 2026
Refugee agency moves to interview 800 Afghans about household immigration status in a wellbeing initiative advocates fear will fuel deportations, with answers kept 15 years.
Source: The Independent
July 24, 2026
Trump returns to the rescheduled correspondents' dinner three months after the shooting, insults journalists for an hour, and dons a Trump 2028 cap.
Source: NPR
July 24, 2026
Post Falls, Idaho, mayor vows the city will never use Flock cameras and asks state lawmakers to require deleting license plate data in 90 days.
Source: KXLY Spokane
July 24, 2026
Paramount agrees to delay its $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger for months after 12 states suing to block it won a restraining order.
Source: Ars Technica
July 24, 2026