Ranking Members Heinrich, Huffman, Smith, Pallone Demand Answers from Trump Administration for Killing Jobs and Increasing Energy Costs by Halting Clean Energy Projects

Ranking Members to Trump Administration: "The pause affects projects that, together, would generate enough electricity to power almost 2.7 million homes."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), U.S. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, and U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding a classified briefing on the Administration's sudden halt of all large-scale offshore wind projects in the United States that generate clean, affordable power, including projects already under construction.

While the Trump Administration claims the pause is based on "recently completed classified reports" citing national security concerns, these projects already cleared extensive national security reviews, including direct coordination with the Department of Defense, before receiving their permits.

Following the announcement, Secretary Burgum took to social media about the decision, criticizing the projects for unrelated reasons, calling offshore wind a "scam" and raising unsupported concerns about wildlife and energy prices.

In their letter, the Ranking Members warn that the pause affects projects that, together, would generate enough electricity to power almost 2.7 million homes. Several projects are already generating electricity for the grid. Dominion Energy, developer of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, warned that "stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability for some of the nation's most important war fighting, AI, and civilian assets. It will also lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs."

In their letter, the Ranking Members write, "As Ranking Members of the Committees of jurisdiction with significant concerns about the impacts of this pause, we request a classified briefing on this latest action by the administration to stop offshore wind development. The briefing should include, at minimum, an explanation of the new national security 'risks' information on the anticipated length of the ongoing pause. Please provide us with three dates and times for a briefing by Thursday, January 22, 2026."

The Administration's order is already facing resistance in the courts. On January 13, a federal judge granted Revolution Wind's request for an injunction, allowing the project to resume construction while Revolution Wind's lawsuit against the government proceeds. At least four of the five affected projects have filed legal challenges against the administration's order.

Read the full letter here and below:

Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Burgum:

On December 22, 2025, the Department of the Interior announced it is pausing the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects in the United States, including Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind 1, due to national security risks. Secretary Burgum cited risks identified by the Department of Defense (DOD) "in recently completed classified reports." Each of these projects has undergone lengthy federal reviews, including coordination with DOD to address any national security concerns before receiving permits.

In the Record of Decision for the Revolution Wind project, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management noted that "the DOD concluded that site-specific stipulations, designed in consultation with the DOD, could mitigate the impact of [the] site," and that, when addressed through coordination with DOD, "impacts would be negligible and avoidable."

Additionally, a Federal Interagency Working Group, which includes the DOD, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that "the development and use of radar interference mitigation techniques, and collaboration both among federal agencies and between the federal government and the wind industry have enabled federal radar agencies to continue to perform their missions without significant impacts."

The pause affects projects that, together, would generate enough electricity to power almost 2.7 million homes. Several projects are already generating electricity for the grid. ISO New England, the region's grid operator, stated that the pause will increase costs and risks to reliability, and that "delays of new generating resources also will adversely affect New England's economy and industrial growth, including potential future data centers."

Dominion Energy, the regional utility and developer of CVOW, stated that "stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability for some of the nation's most important war fighting, AI, and civilian assets. It will also lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs."

Following the announcement, Secretary Burgum posted on social media about the decision, criticizing the projects for unrelated reasons, calling offshore wind a "scam" and raising other unsupported concerns about wildlife and energy prices.

As Ranking Members of the Committees of jurisdiction with significant concerns about the impacts of this pause, we request a classified briefing on this latest action by the administration to stop offshore wind development. The briefing should include, at minimum, an explanation of the new national security "risks" information on the anticipated length of the ongoing pause. Please provide us with three dates and times for a briefing by Thursday, January 22, 2026.

Sincerely,

###