Judge blocks Trump administration from terminating $14 billion in 'green
bank' grants
[March 19, 2025]
By MICHAEL PHILLIS and MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump
administration from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three
climate groups by the Biden administration, saying the government's
“vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud are insufficient.”
The order by U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan prevents — for now — the
Environmental Protection Agency from ending the grant program, which
totaled $20 billion. The judge also blocked Citibank, which holds the
money on behalf of EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone
else.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the grant recipients of
mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing and froze the grants. But after
reviewing arguments in the case, Chutkan said Zeldin's allegations fell
short.
“At this juncture, EPA Defendants have not sufficiently explained why
unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs’ grant awards was a rational
precursor to reviewing” the green bank program, Chutkan wrote.
She was the third judge of the day to rule against the Trump
administration. The trio of rulings came within hours of an
extraordinary conflict, as President Donald Trump called for the
impeachment of another judge who had temporarily blocked deportation
flights. Trump's message drew a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief
Justice John Roberts.
Climate United Fund and other groups had sued the EPA, Zeldin and
Citibank, saying they had illegally denied the groups access to $14
billion awarded last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,
commonly referred to as a “green bank." The program was created by the
2022 Inflation Reduction Act to finance clean energy and
climate-friendly projects.
Climate United and two other groups, the Coalition for Green Capital and
Power Forward Communities, said the freeze not only prevented them from
financing new projects, but might force them to lay off staff. They said
the allegations they were mishandling funds were utterly meritless.
The nonprofits also wanted Judge Chutkan to order Citibank to unfreeze
the account. She declined to do so. The order simply preserves the
status quo while the case proceeds.
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Building is shown in
Washington, Sept. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais,
File)
Climate United was awarded nearly $7 billion, the Coalition for
Green Capital won $5 billion and Power Forward Communities was
awarded $2 billion. Republicans unanimously voted against the law
that created the grant program and have denounced it as an
unaccountable "slush fund.''
After the funds were frozen, the EPA moved to terminate the grants.
Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said the judge's decision Tuesday
was “a step in the right direction.”
“In the coming weeks, we will continue working towards a long-term
solution that will allow us to invest in projects that deliver
energy savings, create jobs, and boost American manufacturing in
communities across the country,” Bafford said.
Zeldin said in a statement posted on X Tuesday that the grants were
awarded “in a manner that deliberately reduced the ability of EPA to
conduct proper oversight.”
“I will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are
returned to the U.S. Treasury," he said.
Zeldin has characterized the grants as a “gold bar” scheme marred by
conflicts of interest and potential fraud.
“Twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside
financial institution, in a deliberate effort to limit government
oversight — doling out your money through just eight pass-through,
politically connected, unqualified and in some cases brand-new”
nonprofit organizations, Zeldin said in a video previously posted
online.
Climate United countered that the termination was unlawful, arguing
the federal government had identified no evidence of waste, fraud or
abuse.
___
Phillis reported from St. Louis.
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