\u201cIn the two that were about money, we\u2019re 2 and 0,\u201d Menefee told the Houston Press on Tuesday. \u201cOver the refugee health funds, the funding was restored. Over the public health funds in the wake of COVID-19, the funding was restored. In the federal layoffs case we got a temporary injunction that blocked the federal government from continuing the layoffs. That went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which eliminated the injunction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many instances, with the Trump administration, the left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ll eliminate funding; they will get rid of programs; they will temporarily freeze programs. It is 100 percent illegal, and they\u2019re not truly made aware of that until they\u2019re hauled in front of a judge and they have to answer for what they\u2019ve done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Menefee\u2019s latest action is an effort to salvage about $250 million that was awarded to the nonpartisan Texas Solar for All Coalition, designed to lower electricity bills, create clean energy jobs, and expand access to affordable solar power across disadvantaged communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grant recipients would have had their energy bills slashed by about $500 per year, and the funding would have covered solar and battery installation for thousands of residents in neighborhoods that experience blackouts and high heat, said Menefee, who is running for U.S. Congressional District 18 in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Solar for All program was approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. The federal government rescinded the grant \u2014 illegally, according to Menefee \u2014 in August of this year, saying the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s authority and funding for the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760522831_891_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Menefee said Congress created the program and promised funding to local governments and families across the country. They can\u2019t just walk it back, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just another policy disagreement,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a clear-cut case of federal overreach, an illegal attempt to cancel a program that Congress already appropriated the funds for. They never supported this program, so they made up a justification for killing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, said at a Monday press conference that work had already started in the communities that were awarded Solar for All grants when the funds were rescinded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Houston, Port Arthur and Waco, training programs were already underway to certify Texans in solar installation and energy efficiency,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cThe coalition had already begun building resilience hubs, community centers, and homes equipped with solar and battery backup to keep the lights on during hurricanes or potential grid failures. For communities like ours along the Gulf Coast, these hubs mean the difference between safety and suffering in the next storm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Solar For All program would have offered measurable savings for families that have trouble paying the bills, \u201cespecially in times like these when prices are going up because of other terrible policies implemented by the Trump administration,\u201d the congresswoman added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the cuts were announced, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called programs like Solar for All \u201ca grift and a boondoggle,\u201d citing a need for environmental regulation. About 90 percent of the EPA workforce has been furloughed during the government shutdown that began October 1, so it\u2019s unclear whether a response to Harris County\u2019s lawsuit will be forthcoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Menefee told the Press on Tuesday that the lawsuit and media events aren\u2019t part of a symbolic pep rally; the goal is to get the funds reinstated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want a ruling that the EPA\u2019s decision violates the law,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re taking action to ensure that the courts hold the federal government accountable. The elimination of this program is illegal .My hope is that the court requires the EPA to reinstate the program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hundreds of applications were submitted for the competitive program, and several county leaders worked to ensure that Harris County got a cut. The grant would have assisted more than 28,000 families across Texas and about 10,000 in Harris County.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harris County families and neighborhoods had not yet been identified as funding recipients, Menefee said, but the program was widely publicized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFolks very much knew that Harris County had been awarded this grant and we were going to, with federal dollars, make a deep investment in lowering people\u2019s bills,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were not specific individuals who were expecting they were going to get the money but certainly the community at large expected this money to come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Adrian Garcia attended the press conference this week and detailed the rigorous grant application process for the solar program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerating more electricity is not part of a political agenda, power is not partisan, and fuel for our first responders should not be controversial,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe need to produce more energy to sustain the growth across Texas, and I hope the courts will see it this way too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hidalgo said the grant wasn\u2019t just going to help Harris County families; it was going to boost infrastructure for natural disasters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a saying in emergency management that there are two kinds of generators: the kind that start and fail and the kind that never start,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were working based on that premise and developing hubs that would have their own ability to produce solar energy, their own microgrid, so if the grid failed, they could still have power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menefee said he hopes Harris County will get a response from the government within 60 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about more than one grant,\u201d Menefee said. \u201cIt\u2019s about good government. The federal government made a promise to local communities. We did our part, and now Washington has to hold up its end of the deal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n