Trump EPA wrongly canceled $20B in climate funds, appeals court rules
A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration lacked the authority to claw back $20 billion in climate funds already disbursed to nonprofits. The decision allows these organizations to retain funding that was frozen by the EPA in early 2025.
Why it matters
The ruling highlights the legal limits of executive power regarding the reversal of previously appropriated and disbursed federal funds.
The Trump administration did not have the authority to terminate and claw back funding that had already been disbursed to climate nonprofits, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
Eight nonprofit groups have been seeking to regain access to billions of dollars that had been deposited in their bank accounts after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, along with the FBI and the Treasury Department, ordered Citibank to freeze their accounts in February 2025.
The decision gives the groups access to their funding while the EPA decides whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, many of the organizations have had to enact significant cuts while their accounts were frozen.
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