In a striking move, Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed during the Obama era, has blocked EPA Chief Lee Zeldin’s efforts to retrieve $20 billion from the Biden administration’s EPA fund. This decision came late Tuesday when the judge issued an injunction stopping Zeldin from reclaiming the money that was earmarked for eight different ‘green’ nonprofits and is currently held at Citibank.
Previously, Lee Zeldin had managed to freeze the $20 billion under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) in collaboration with Citibank. The funds were allocated to organizations including the Coalition for Green Capital, Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv, and the Justice Climate Fund, as reported by AP.
Judge Chutkan ordered that the funds be unfrozen by Thursday and distributed to the specified nonprofits. Not backing down, the Trump Administration swiftly announced plans to appeal this decision.
A spokesperson for the Trump Administration, in a statement to CNN, criticized the ruling, stating, “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. 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.”
Earlier last month, Zeldin had already informed the eight recipients about the termination of their grants as detailed in this notice.
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!
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin)
March 11, 2025
The grant termination followed revelations made by Project Veritas, exposing an EPA advisor admitting to rushing the allocation of funds for climate initiatives ahead of President Trump’s tenure. The undercover video from Project Veritas, available here, captured EPA Advisor Brent Efron describing the actions as an “insurance policy” against Trump’s win.
Brent Efron confessed, “It was an insurance policy against Trump winning,” and elaborated, “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.”
BREAKING: @EPA Advisor Admits ‘Insurance Policy’ Against Trump is Funneling Billions to Climate Organizations, “We’re Throwing Gold Bars off the Titanic”
“It was an insurance policy against Trump winning.”
“Get the money out as fast as possible before they [Trump…
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas)
December 3, 2024
Stay tuned as more details emerge on this developing story that continues to highlight the ongoing battle over taxpayer dollars and climate funding.
