Appeals court again blocks Trump EPA from reclaiming $20 billion IRA climate funds

A federal appeals court on Tuesday again blocked the Trump administration from reclaiming billions in climate funding issued under the Inflation Reduction Act, ruling that the EPA could not claw back money that had already been disbursed to nonprofit recipients and frozen at Citibank. The decision gives eight nonprofit groups renewed access to funds tied to the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund while the EPA decides whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an injunction preventing the EPA from taking back money already deposited in the groups’ bank accounts. Judges backing the ruling said the agency was trying to rescind the funding "solely on a policy disagreement" and rejected the Trump EPA’s argument that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allowed it to recover the money after repealing the Inflation Reduction Act provision that created the program. The case has become a key test of how far the administration can go in unwinding Biden-era climate spending once Congress-approved funds have already been obligated and sent out. The funding was intended to support clean energy lending and other financing designed to help businesses and communities move away from fossil fuels, but the freeze has already forced some organizations to cut staff and operations.