Top Senate Democrats assailed the Trump administration’s decision to halt five offshore wind projects, charging that the “illegal attacks” on renewable energy projects must be reversed for high-stakes permitting talks to continue.
Democrats have made similar threats in the permitting discussions before, but a statement Monday from Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) may be the strongest yet.
“There is no path to permitting reform if this administration refuses to follow the law,” said the senators, who are working with EPW Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and ENR Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) on a broad permitting and grid deal by next year.
The Interior Department’s announcement it will pause and review projects already under construction, citing national security risks, comes a week after House GOP leaders struck a deal with conservatives and offshore wind foes to pass bipartisan permitting legislation. It will be the main House offering in negotiations with the Senate.
The deal was in response to bipartisan language that would try to prevent an administration from yanking project permits. Offshore wind foes like House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) demanded giving President Donald Trump more flexibility.
Harris on Monday cheered Interior’s announcement. “Good. National security cannot be sacrificed in pursuit of expensive, untested energy experiments that put both the Eastern Shore and the nation at risk,” said the congressman, who represents Maryland’s Atlantic coast.
The administration defended the new pause as necessary to protect “the national security of the American people” because of potential radar interference from wind turbines.
But like Harris, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also cited other issues when attacking offshore wind. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, subsidy-dependent schemes ever pushed upon American taxpayers,” the secretary wrote on X.
But the decision angered one of the House GOP’s most vulnerable members, Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia, who said she’s “deeply disappointed.” The halted projects along the Eastern Seaboard include Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind 1.
For months, Kiggans has been urging top Trump officials to back off what’s known as CVOW located 23 miles off Virginia Beach, even enlisting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to relay support.
Echoing a sentiment from the project’s developer, Dominion Energy, Kiggans said the Interior order would harm thousands of workers and undermine military readiness. Plus, she noted, ratepayers have already paid for the project.
“Halting CVOW at this stage is disastrous for our energy security, our local economy, and our national security as it relates to military readiness,” she said. “I am anxiously awaiting answers from the administration regarding this directive.”
Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, whose state saw both the Sunrise and Empire offshore wind projects halted by Burgum’s announcement, said on Monday that he supports an “all-of-the-above energy strategy that treats wind and petroleum fairly.”
“Our energy policy should be grounded in facts, fiscal responsibility, and the national interest — not ideology or politics,” LaLota said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “Trump’s obsession with killing offshore wind projects is unhinged, irrational, and unjustified. At a time of soaring energy costs, this latest decision from DOI is a backwards step that will drive energy bills even higher.”
