Energy Secretary Chris Wright dropped an expletive at a House hearing Wednesday — and got scolded for it by the Republican running the room.
The meltdown came after Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) confronted Wright over President Donald Trump's broken pledge to slash energy prices by 50% and the Department of Energy's cancellation of hundreds of clean energy grants in blue states.
"Has Donald Trump fulfilled his promise?" Amo asked.
"He sets ambitious targets, and he is all in on driving in that direction," Wright hedged.
"So my answer is no!" Amo noted.
"Not yet!" Wright fired back.
Amo then charged that Wright had canceled more than 300 projects in Democratic-leaning states — including $14 million for three Rhode Island grants — and that a court found the DOE violated the Constitution. He then quoted from litigation in which the DOE's own attorneys wrote that "a primary reason for the selection of which DOE grant termination decisions were included in the October 2025 notice tranche was whether the grantee was located in a blue state."
"We did not involve politics in the decisions!" Wright said, denying the charge.
"What about the outcomes, Mr. Secretary?" Amo pressed.
Wright snapped: "So it's bulls—! We're gonna say it a million times! Not true!"
That prompted Amo to call a point of parliamentary procedure. "Are we promoting language like that from witnesses?"
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) stepped in. "Watch your language there, Mr. Secretary," he said, before trying to move on.
"We'll do [that], sir!" Wright promised.
Amo accused Wright of performing for "your audience of one" — President Trump — and pressed him again on whether he would restore the canceled grants.
"We've gone overboard for New England, for California, for blue states!" Wright dodged.
"That's not an answer!" Amo shot back, reclaiming his time. He closed with a final question: "Do you believe federal grant decisions should be based in any way on how a state's voters cast their ballots in a presidential election?"
"They shouldn't, and they weren't!" Wright said.
Amo had the last word: "Mr. Secretary, this hearing started with Trump's promise to lower energy costs. Instead, you've bloviated."