EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin celebrated Tuesday’s decision from a federal appeals court overturning a lower court’s ruling that barred the Trump administration from recouping billions in Biden-era climate spending.
“MASSIVE DC Circuit Court win for the Trump EPA & taxpayers! After the Biden EPA set up the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through self-dealing & conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients & reduced agency oversight, I terminated these grants completely!” he wrote on X, sharing a screenshot from the 2-1 ruling:
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded grants worth $16 billion to five nonprofits to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Citing concerns about conflicts of interest and lack of oversight, EPA terminated the grants in March 2025. The grantees sued, and the district court entered a preliminary injunction ordering EPA and Citibank to continue funding the grants.
We conclude the district court abused its discretion in issuing the injunction. The grantees are not likely to succeed on the merits because their claims are essentially contractual, and therefore jurisdiction lies exclusively in the Court of Federal Claims. And while the district court had jurisdiction over the grantees’ constitutional claim, that claim is meritless. Moreover, the equities strongly favor the government, which on behalf of the public must ensure the proper oversight and management of this multi-billion-dollar fund. Accordingly, we vacate the injunction.
🚨MASSIVE DC Circuit Court win for the Trump EPA & taxpayers!
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) September 2, 2025
After the Biden EPA set up the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through self-dealing & conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients & reduced agency oversight, I terminated these grants completely! pic.twitter.com/mTjdOYgVar
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration handed eight organizations money that was then sub-awarded to what Zeldin previously called “politically connected and inexperienced nongovernmental organizations” to address climate change.
Zeldin blasted the wasteful spending that he noted was given in a "manner that deliberately reduced the ability of EPA to conduct proper oversight.” When he attempted to claw back the funds, the organizations sued, prompting the legal showdown. The ruling that came out Tuesday does not settle the dispute but it lifts the order that barred EPA from pulling back the funds while litigation is ongoing.
The EPA administrator shared some excerpts from the decision:
- “The month before President Trump’s inauguration, EPA modified the grant agreements—with no apparent consideration from the grantees—to make it more difficult for the government to terminate the grants.”
- “[N]othing in the Inflation Reduction Act prevented EPA from taking care that the grant programs be faithfully executed…. [T]his preliminary injunction … bar[red] EPA from carrying out basic executive functions to ensure the prudent and effective management of substantial public funds.”
- “The district court also ignored the government’s evidence of mismanagement of the grant funds, such as the damning ‘gold bars’ video, which further supports EPA’s good faith in deciding to terminate the grants and recommit the funds with proper supervision and accountability.”
- “Our jurisdiction, however, rests on law, not on the severity of the alleged wrongdoing claimed by the grantees and reported by The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Politico.”
The Biden EPA parked $20B at an outside bank to dole out to just EIGHT pass through NGOs, including the infamous $2B for the Stacey Abrams linked NGO that received only $100 in 2023.
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) September 2, 2025
The Trump EPA has ZERO tolerance for ANY waste and abuse!
Check out excerpts from the… https://t.co/vjFLXWhovQ pic.twitter.com/g3Qq2FyBlO
“It’s fantastic to see reason prevail in the court system," an EPA statement said. "EPA has a duty to be an exceptional steward of taxpayer dollars. Administrator Zeldin cancelled these grants due to well documented concerns about self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients, and intentionally reduced agency oversight. The gold bar recipients were wrong about jurisdiction all along and wrong to act so entitled to these precious public funds that belong to hardworking American taxpayers.”
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