Ranking Member Courtney Statement on the Trump Administration’s New Pause on Offshore Wind Projects

NORWICH, CT - Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, released the following statement after the Trump Administration claimed it was pausing all offshore wind project construction by pausing leases for the projects, including the 85% complete Revolution Wind project in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Administration again cites national security concerns, despite clear decisions in all three branches of government that offshore wind does not present a national security threat.

"The issue of national security for offshore wind projects was already litigated at the federal district court level in September, when a Reagan appointed judge flatly rejected the vague claims cited in the Trump Administration's August 22nd halt work order for the Revolution Wind project. In addition, the issue was debated and rejected in the House of Representatives when a broad bipartisan coalition of House Members, by a vote of 209-224, rejected an amendment to the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act that sought to raise national security as a statutory bar to offshore wind projects. The issue could not have been made clearer for the Revolution Wind project than in the Department of Defense's December 2024 letter which states that the project, 'would not have adverse impacts to DoD missions in the area,'" Courtney said. "The Trump Administration promised to cut energy prices in half. We know that President Trump has a longstanding personal vendetta against offshore wind. Pausing these projects without any real justification will do nothing but increase costs for rate payers and eliminate good paying jobs for the building trades."

The Revolution Wind project, which is 85% complete, will supply cheaper electricity to 350,000 homes Connecticut and Rhode Island. Over 1,000 union workers have logged over 2 million hours building the project.

On August 22nd, the Trump Administration first attempted to halt work on the Revolution Wind offshore wind energy project in Connecticut and Rhode Island, also citing vague national security "concerns." The Revolution Wind project had already been reviewed and vetted by the Department of Defense as detailed in a 2023 Record of Decision and a December 2024 letter from the Department of Defense which states that "the Department of Defense has found that construction of the Revolution Wind project would not have adverse impacts to DoD missions in the area."

In September, the House of Representatives rejected an amendment to the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act which would have further delayed the Revolution Wind project.

On September 22^nd, a Reagan-appointed federal judge granted a preliminary injunction, without any stay, on the Trump Administration's August 22^nd halt work order, allowing construction of the Revolution Wind project to resume.

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