A federal judge on Tuesday evening blocked EPA Chief Lee Zeldin from reclaiming billions from a Biden-era EPA fund. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who oversaw two bogus cases against President Donald Trump, issued an injunction preventing the EPA from moving forward with Zeldin’s effort to recover funds currently held at Citibank for eight environmental nonprofits.
Zeldin had previously moved to reclaim the $20 billion in grants allocated under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), with Citibank agreeing to freeze the funds designated for the nonprofits. According to AP, the money was awarded to “Coalition for Green Capital, Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv and the Justice Climate Fund.”
Chutkan ordered the $20 billion held at Citibank to be unfrozen by Thursday and distributed to the eight environmental nonprofits. The Trump administration plans to immediately appeal the ruling. A spokesperson for the administration criticized the decision in a statement to CNN, calling it deeply flawed. “The DC District Court does not have jurisdiction to reinstate the $20 billion Biden-Harris ‘Gold Bar’ scheme, which is further amplified by a recent Supreme Court decision,” a spokesperson said in an email to CNN. “These grants are terminated, and the funds belong to the U.S. taxpayer. We couldn’t be more confident in the merits of our appeal and will take every possible step to protect hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
Zeldin announced last month that he informed the eight recipients of the $20 billion grants from the Biden EPA’s slush fund that their grants have been terminated. “It is my commitment to President Trump, Congress, and you, that EPA will be an exceptional steward of your tax dollars. I’ll have it no other way!” he said.
?Update: @EPA just notified 8 recipients of $20 BILLION in Biden EPA “gold bars” that their grants have been TERMINATED!
It is my commitment to President Trump, Congress, and you, that EPA will be an exceptional steward of your tax dollars. I’ll have it no other way! pic.twitter.com/PjJ5WOlaY1
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) March 11, 2025
Zeldin canceled the grants after a Project Veritas undercover video revealed an EPA advisor admitting the agency rushed to allocate billions in taxpayer funds to climate initiatives ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. In the footage, EPA Advisor Brent Efron is heard describing the funding effort as part of an “insurance policy” against Trump. “It was an insurance policy against Trump winning,” Brent Efron told a Project Veritas undercover journalist. “Get the money out as fast as possible before they [Trump Administration] come in … it’s like we’re on the Titanic and we’re throwing gold bars off the edge.”
