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Shapiro said in a news conference that more than $2 billion that
his administration had identified as either frozen or held up by
an unspecified review was now accessible to state agencies.
Shapiro sued in federal court over the aid on Feb. 13, after
federal courts had repeatedly rejected the Trump
administration’s sweeping pause on federal funding and
questioned whether the Trump administration was ignoring court
orders.
Shapiro also said he pressed his case in conversations with
senior Trump administration officials while he was in
Washington, D.C., over the weekend. The U.S. attorney's office
in Philadelphia, which represents the federal agencies named in
the lawsuit, declined comment Monday.
In federal court in Rhode Island, Trump administration lawyers,
however, have argued that the government's move to freeze funds
was legal and asked a judge to reject a request by nearly two
dozen Democratic states for a preliminary injunction.
Administration lawyers characterized the freeze as simply a
“pause” to consider how best to use federal funds. They
contended the case was moot since the Office of Management and
Budget had rescinded its memo in late January freezing federal
grants and loans.
Much of the stalled grant funding identified by Shapiro's
administration was passed by Congress in signature laws signed
by former President Joe Biden, including his landmark 2022
climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and his 2021
infrastructure law.
The lawsuit had said aid was being withheld from programs that
distribute money to upgrade energy efficiency in homes, plug
abandoned gas wells, clean up abandoned mine land, improve
municipal water and sewer systems and reimburse industry for
cutting their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Five federal agencies were named as defendants: the White House
Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection
Agency and the departments of Interior and Transportation.
None have commented on the lawsuit, except for the Department of
Energy, which said it was complying with the court orders.
However, the department didn’t say whether it had released
funding that Shapiro’s administration accused it of holding up.
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