Democrats forced a government shutdown. Now they’re paying the price. The Trump administration is canceling $8 billion in green energy funding.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought made the announcement Wednesday. Government funding had expired just hours earlier. Democrats blocked the House-passed bill that would have kept things running.

Vought posted the news on X. His message was clear and direct.

“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”

The Department of Energy will release more details soon. But the damage to Democrat priorities is already done.

The cuts target projects in 16 blue states. California is on the list. So are Colorado, Connecticut, and Delaware. Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts will lose funding too.

Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New Mexico face cuts. New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington round out the list.

Every single state votes Democrat or leans left. The pattern is obvious.

The announcement came after another major cut. Earlier Wednesday, the White House halted $18 billion in infrastructure projects for New York City. The reason? The Democrat shutdown.

Trump addressed the shutdown situation on Tuesday afternoon. He made it clear his administration wanted to keep the government open. Democrats had other plans.

“They are shutting it down. We’re not shutting it down. We don’t want it to shut down because we have the greatest period of time ever. I told you we have $17 trillion being invested, so the last person that wants it shut down is us.”

The president warned Democrats about playing games. He explained that shutdowns give his administration special powers. Powers Democrats won’t like.

“With that being said, we can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible that are bad for them, and irreversible by them–like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

Trump praised Russ Vought by name. He called him popular for his budget-cutting skills.

“And you all know Russell Vought, he’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way.”

The president explained why Democrats forced the shutdown. It comes down to illegal immigrants. Democrats want taxpayers to fund healthcare for illegals.

“So they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown because, because of the shutdown, we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits; we can cut large numbers of people out. We don’t want to do that, but we don’t want fraud, waste, and abuse, and, you know, we’re cutting that.”

Trump continued his explanation of Democrat priorities.

“But they want to have illegal aliens come into our country and get massive health care at the cost to everybody else, and we don’t have it. And that’s, I would say, the number one reason that they want a strike is to get illegal immigrants health care, and you know Gavin Newsom wants that too in California, and it’s destroying California. We can’t have that. We’re not going to let it happen.”

Democrats blocked a clean continuing resolution. The House passed the bill. It would have funded the government at Biden-era levels through November.

But Democrats wanted more. They wanted healthcare for illegals. They wanted to protect their climate agenda. They wanted billions for pet projects.

Now they’re getting none of it.

The Trump administration is using the shutdown to make permanent changes. These cuts can’t be easily reversed. Democrats took a gamble. They lost.

Vought’s announcement represents just the beginning. More cuts are likely coming. Trump warned about trimming benefits and programs. He talked about cutting people out of the system.

The $8 billion in green energy cuts hit Democrat strongholds hard. These states depend on federal climate funding. Their entire energy transition plans rely on taxpayer money.

Trump called it the “Green New Scam.” His administration views these programs as wasteful spending. The shutdown gave him the perfect opportunity to end them.

Democrats are learning a painful lesson. Force a shutdown, lose your priorities. Trump plays hardball. And he’s winning.