Colorado has joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s termination of more than $600 million in congressionally approved clean energy grants for Colorado projects, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by a coalition of 13 states, alleges that the Trump administration unlawfully revoked funding authorized by Congress, violating the constitutional separation of powers.

“This executive branch seems to think they have the power of the purse,” Weiser said during the announcement of his 54^th lawsuit against the Trump administration. “That’s not how our constitution works.”

Weiser cited specific examples of projects affected by the cuts: a carbon storage hub in Pueblo led by the Colorado School of Mines; a grant to Colorado State University to reduce methane emissions; and solar technology development at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“Colorado is a leader on energy innovation,” Weiser said. “This administration is seeking to undermine our position in the world, undermine our economic growth, take away jobs, raise energy prices, and break the law. They’re not going to get away with it.”

Bonta described the terminations as playing politics with the economy, energy grid and jobs.

“These are investments approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress, and the president doesn’t get to cancel them simply because he disagrees with them,” Bonta said.

The Trump administration has defended prior terminations of funding as a matter of fiscal prudence in its national energy policies.

In an October 2025 announcement ending 223 projects, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said: “On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard.”

“President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy,” Wright added.

Weiser noted the administration initially targeted public health grants broadly but later focused on Democratic-led states.

“We do not live in the blue states of America or the red states,” Weiser said. “We live in the United States.”

According to Bonta, the 13 plaintiff states assessed their standing based on claims of direct injuries from the cuts before joining.

This marks the first suit specifically contesting these DOE grant terminations, though it overlaps with earlier challenges to broader appropriation issues, Bonta said.