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.
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.
Chutkan’s order also blocks Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of the EPA, from transferring the money back to the government or anyone else.
Climate United Fund and other groups had sued the EPA, its administrator Lee 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.
Zeldin accused the grant recipients of mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing and froze the grants.
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