Fact Check: Unpacking claim that group linked to Stacey Abrams got $2B federal grant
Claim:
The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency discovered a $2 billion U.S. government grant paid to a nonprofit group linked to former Democratic Rep. Stacey Abrams.
Rating:
What's True:
Power Forward Communities is a program led by five organizations including Rewiring America, a nonprofit group that former Democratic state Rep. Stacey Abrams has worked with since 2023. Power Forward Communities received a $2 billion government grant from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024.
What's Undetermined:
Claims online say the $2 billion grant for Power Forward Communities was discovered by DOGE. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Feb. 13 that his team discovered the funding. Additionally, information about the grant was publicly available on a U.S. government website that tracks federal spending, and Power Forward Communities announced it in 2024.
During his address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump extolled his new Department of Government Efficiency by listing, at length, alleged fraud and waste uncovered by DOGE. One of his examples involved federal payments to a nonprofit group connected to Stacey Abrams, a Democratic former state representative from Georgia (at 43:46):
$1.9 billion to recently created decarbonization of homes committee, headed up — and we know she's involved — just at the last moment, the money was passed over by a woman named Stacey Abrams. Have you ever heard of her?
The claim about a group connected to Abrams receiving a $2 billion U.S. government grant also circulated online in February 2025, with one post (archived) on X getting more than 19 million views.
STACEY ABRAMS SCAM UNCOVERED BY DOGE?!
@DOGE found $2 BILLION in taxpayer dollars designated for a fledgling nonprofit called "Power Forward Communities," which had close ties to Democrat Stacey Abrams.
The claim also appeared elsewhere on X (archived), Facebook (archived), Threads (archived) and Bluesky (archived).
According to usaspending.gov, a database of federal contracts and grants, a program named Power Forward Communities did receive a $2 billion federal grant in April 2024. The grant came from the Environmental Protection Agency's National Clean Investment Fund and was paid out to Power Forward Communities in full at the time of this writing. However, while Abrams is connected to that group, it is through an advisory role for one of its five founding organizations, a nonprofit called Rewiring America. We have asked Power Forward Communities and Abrams' office to confirm her involvement with the program and will update this story if they reply.
Furthermore, there was no indication that DOGE "discovered" the grant. Rather, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Feb. 13 that his team discovered the funding, which was part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and was working to claw it back. Additionally, information about the grant was publicly available on an official website that tracks federal spending as well as the Power Forward Communities website. We have reached out to the EPA for more information and will update this story if they reply.
Given the above, we rate this claim a mixture of truth and undetermined information.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 made almost $27 billion available to the EPA for "greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects" across the U.S. The funding was divided into three programs: the National Clean Investment Fund, the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator and Solar for All.
The $2 billion funding for Power Forward Communities came from the National Clean Investment Fund. According to the EPA, the grant recipients were "establishing national clean financing institutions that deliver accessible, affordable financing for clean technology projects nationwide."
Abrams' connection to Power Forward Communities, as mentioned above, is through Rewiring America, one of the five organizations that leads the program. Rewiring America said via news release in March 2023 that Abrams was joining as senior counsel. According to Abrams' website, she was still working with Rewiring America at the time of this writing.
According to its website, Power Forward Communities helps finance "home energy efficiency upgrades" by assisting "homeowners, developers, and renters swap outdated, inefficient appliances with more efficient and modernized options." The program said in August 2024 that it expected to being its work with the $2 billion funding in early 2025.
Claims online said the funding was "discovered" by DOGE, the government advisory body headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a video message on Feb. 13 that "my awesome team" had "found" the funding while going through the agency's finances. Zeldin specifically referenced a $7 billion grant to the Climate United Fund, another recipient of the National Clean Investment Fund that also funded the grant to Power Forward Communities.
Musk (archived) and DOGE (archived) both commented on Zeldin's X post about the discovery of the funding, but did not indicate that they were involved in the discovery.
Also, information about the grant to Power Foward Communities was available to the public on usaspending.gov, an official source that tracks U.S. government spending. Power Forward Communities announced the grant in a news release on its website on Aug. 16, 2024.
In his Feb. 13 announcement, Zeldin claimed the funding his team discovered was "purposefully designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight." This statement tied into a Project Veritas report from December 2024, where an alleged Biden EPA staffer said the agency was trying to "get the money out as fast as possible" before Inauguration Day. Zeldin's statement claimed his team at the EPA found some of the funding allegedly funneled out of the agency by the Biden-era staff.
It remains to be seen whether Zeldin can legally carry out his promised clawback of the funds.
@billtoures. "Stacey Abrams Lost Her Election and Started a Climate Charity. ." Threads, 21 Feb. 2025, https://www.threads.net/@billtoures/post/DGUOcyyN7H6.
Brown, Claire. "The $20 Billion Controversy Over E.P.A. Climate Funds, Explained." New York Times, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/climate/epa-climate-funds-green-banks-20-billion.html.
@Bubblebathgirl. "Stacey Abrams Caught Trying to Steal a Gigantic $2 BILLION from Taxpayers." X, 19 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1892348036036079734.
cortessteve.bsky.social. "EXPOSED: Stacey Abrams-Linked Group, Power Forward Communities, Was given $2 Billion in Taxpayer Money and Only Generated a Dismal $100 in Revenue in Its First Three Months of Operation. ." Bluesky, 21 Feb. 2025, https://bsky.app/profile/cortessteve.bsky.social/post/3liowwf6sut2x.
@DOGE. "Great Momentum by @epa @epaleezeldin." X, 13 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/DOGE/status/1890110505999851522.
@elonmusk. "Wow!" X, 17 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1891395214557774290.
"From:DOGE Abrams." X, 21 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/search?q=from%3ADOGE%20abrams&src=typed_query.
"From:Elonmusk Abrams." X, 21 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/search?q=from%3Aelonmusk%20abrams&src=typed_query.
Geller, Pamela. "Stacey Abrams Stole $2 BILLION From Taxpayers." Facebook, 20 Feb. 2025, https://www.facebook.com/pamelageller/posts/pfbid02hdqDesnWExjtph33syVgsEpe1UFpDqMKN1m1R7AHSQyWwNqbSB54NMVHPLqmPxgcl.
Home | Rewiring America. https://www.rewiringamerica.org/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
@libsoftiktok. "STACEY ABRAMS SCAM UNCOVERED BY DOGE?!" X, 19 Feb. 2025, https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1892340112660299900.
Power Forward Communities. https://powerforwardcommunities.org/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
---. https://powerforwardcommunities.org/press-release. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
"Problem Solver." Stacey Abrams, https://www.staceyabrams.com/problem-solver. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
@Project_Veritas. "BREAKING: @EPA Advisor Admits 'Insurance Policy' Against Trump Is Funneling Billions to Climate Organizations, 'We're Throwing Gold Bars off the Titanic' ." X, 3 Dec. 2024, https://x.com/Project_Veritas/status/1863960384513753213.
Stacey Abrams Joins Rewiring America as Senior Counsel | Rewiring America. https://www.rewiringamerica.org/newsroom/press-releases/stacey-abrams-joins-rewiring-america-as-senior-counsel. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
US EPA, OA. About the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. 13 Feb. 2023, https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/about-greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund.
---. Administrator Zeldin Announces That Billions of Dollars Worth of "Gold Bars" Have Been Located at Outside Financial Institution. 13 Feb. 2025, https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/administrator-zeldin-announces-billions-dollars-worth-gold-bars-have-been-located.
---. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. 1 Feb. 2023, https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund.
---. National Clean Investment Fund. 10 July 2023, https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/national-clean-investment-fund.
USAspending.Gov. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_84096001_6800. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Yarmuth, John A. H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. H.R.5376, 27 Sept. 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text#:~:text=%60%60SEC.%20134.%20%3C%3CNOTE%3A%2042%20USC%207434.%3E%3E%20%20GREENHOUSE%20GAS%20REDUCTION%20FUND.
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