Washington, D.C.April 29, 2026— Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sent a letter to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné announcing a formal investigation by Committee Democrats into the secret billion-dollar deal the company struck with the Trump administration. The Department of the Interior (DOI) killed two American offshore wind projects, then handed over almost a billion dollars in taxpayer money to a French oil company and tried to make the whole arrangement off-limits to any judge who might want to take a look.
“If TotalEnergies thinks they can get away with taking a billion dollars from American taxpayers, they’re in for a rude awakening. The administration is flat out lying to the public and trying to stop anyone who stands in their way,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “We’re not just going to let this happen without a fight. The Republican-led Congress might not have a spine or shred of respect for the American people, but we sure as hell do. We’re going to get every document, every email, every last receipt on this deal, and every person who had a hand in this is going to answer for it. What I have to say to TotalEnergies is this: Consider yourself on notice, we’re coming for you. You will have to answer to the American people. And any other company that wants to try and pull this kind of scam should be ready for the same fate.”
According to the Ranking Members, the Trump administration pilfered the $1 billion dollars from the Judgment Fund, an account Congress created in 1956 to pay court-ordered judgments and settlements involving the United States, supervised by the Attorney General. There was no litigation with TotalEnergies. Instead, by entering into a collusive agreement with the company, the Administration is using the Judgment Fund as a slush fund to pay its friends and bribe private corporations into submission, all without congressional authorization.
After the Committees called out the blatant illegality in a prior request letter to DOI, Secretary Burgum changed his story and began calling the payment a “refund,” rather than a settlement. That did not help matters, because a “refund” also cannot be paid out of the Judgment Fund.
The Ranking Members note that under the administration’s theory, a president could bankroll its preferred policies of any company with funds unlawfully pulled from the permanent, uncapped federal account, all without a single congressional vote.
The lawmakers also lay out three additional legal failures: the “national security” pretext for canceling the offshore wind leases appears to have been fabricated after DOI and TotalEnergies had already reached an agreement in principle; the payment ignores the formula Congress wrote into the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act for compensating cancelled leases; and Paragraph 18 of the agreement attempts to bar any federal court from reviewing the deal, a provision the letter calls unconstitutional on its face.
“Making a secretive, taxpayer-funded deal and trying to shield it from any legislative oversight does not generate confidence that this deal benefits the American people. Therefore, Committee Democrats have opened a formal investigation into you and your company, TotalEnergies,” Raskin and Huffman stated in the letter. “In defense of the American people and Congressional authority, we will hold you accountable for this billion-dollar ripoff.”
The letter demands TotalEnergies preserve every document tied to the deal and place the funds in escrow while the investigation proceeds.