The Trump administration has dropped its appeal to a federal court ruling that blocked its cap on federal reimbursement for state energy programs, threatening projects ranging from energy efficiency and grid resilience to wildfire mitigation. 

Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown celebrated the case being closed and ensuring that millions of dollars in federal funding continues to flow to the state to strengthen its energy resources and infrastructure. 

“This victory preserves critical funding for wildfire mitigation planning, energy infrastructure protection, and energy efficiency programs that reduce costs for businesses, utilities and local governments. These programs are sorely needed now as families see their energy costs continue to rise,” said Brown in a statement. “We sued. We won. They gave up. Every time the Trump administration oversteps its authority and threatens our state, we will be there to fight back.” 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced in May 2025 it would begin limiting reimbursement of indirect costs of federally-funded state energy projects to 10% of a total project’s budget, according to a release.  That would cover a fraction of those costs for Washington state, state officials said.  

Previously, DOE negotiated its funding agreements with individual states for those projects so that direct and indirect expenses, which include administrative and staffing costs, are paid for. The new policy ignored those prior agreements, violating federal regulations to honor funding arrangements set between the states and federal government.