A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that sought to shield billions of dollars in climate-related grants, siding with the Trump administration in a case that has intensified scrutiny over how taxpayer funds were pushed to environmental nonprofits in the closing days before President Trump took office.
The decision, issued Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, vacated an injunction from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee.
Chutkan had previously barred the administration from freezing $20 billion in Biden-era funds held at Citibank under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
The fund was created to support nonprofits in developing programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but critics argued its implementation was rushed and lacked sufficient accountability.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who leads the EPA’s oversight efforts, argued the grants were rushed out without proper safeguards, pointing to an undercover Project Veritas investigation that captured EPA Advisor Brent Efron admitting payouts were deliberately accelerated.
“It was an insurance policy against Trump winning,” Efron said in the recording. “Get the money out as fast as possible before they [Trump Administration] come in … it’s like we’re on