EPA spending freeze continues despite court orders

Politico

04-02-2025

The Trump administration is still freezing many climate and infrastructure grants despite two federal court orders barring it from doing so.
Nonprofits and state agencies still lacked access Monday to EPA grant awards funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. Two district court judges have issued orders to reverse such spending freezes — with U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan reinforcing her order Monday.
EPA administers several major grant programs under the climate law, including the nearly $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program and the $7 billion Solar for All program, which supports community and rooftop solar projects in low-income neighborhoods. The overwhelming majority of those grants were final when former President Joe Biden left office last month, and the Trump EPA has few clear options to pull back funds or repurpose the awards.
EPA is not the only agency that has halted payouts from the IRA and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, said Jillian Blanchard, vice president for climate change and environmental justice with Lawyers for Good Government. She said grant recipients at the Agriculture and Energy departments are also reporting that they can't access funds.
'People cannot get into their accounts. They can't access funding. They're waiting on invoices to be paid. No one will call them back,' she said.
EPA program recipients told POLITICO's E&E News on Monday that the inability to access funds was already having an impact after one week. The recipients, granted anonymity to avoid retribution, said they have had to lay out money for expenses, like payroll or rent, without knowing if and when it would be reimbursed. The freeze has also prompted some recipients to pause hiring — and worry about how long they could pay existing staff.
The Justice Department in a filing Monday acknowledged AliKhan's order and pledged to inform agencies of it. But it argued that the order 'contains several ambiguous terms and provisions that could be read to constitute significant intrusions on the executive branch's lawful authorities and the separation of powers.'
EPA's acting General Counsel Sean Donahue sent an agency 'mass mailer' to all employees before 9 a.m. Monday morning that linked to the temporary restraining order. He promised 'additional EPA-specific guidance on agency financial assistance,' which sources said was not sent as of Monday evening.
EPA declined to respond to an inquiry from E&E News about why the funds remained frozen, referring questions to DOJ. EPA did not acknowledge questions about whether the delay was due to a technical difficulty or whether the agency believed it was complying with the court order.
DOJ declined to comment.
Zealan Hoover, former director of implementation at Biden's EPA, said the Trump administration appeared to be trying to dodge the order.
'I am very concerned that this illegal action will force state and local governments to pause construction, lay off staff and slow their work to provide cleaner air and water,' he said.
Blanchard echoed that concern.
'It looks like this executive is considering just completely flouting a court's direct order,' she said.