Appeals Court Allows Trump Administration to Reclaim $16 Billion in Climate Grants Rushed Out by Biden Officials
The Biden administration’s final weeks resembled nothing so much as a clearance sale at a corrupt bank. With the clock ticking down to Trump’s inauguration, bureaucrats worked overtime (on our dime, naturally) to shovel nearly $20 billion in taxpayer funds out the door to their favorite “climate” organizations. No real oversight, no accountability measures, just a desperate rush to move the money before the new sheriff arrived in town. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin would later describe it perfectly: they were “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.” But hey, who’s counting when it’s not your money, right?
These weren’t small grants to community gardens or local environmental cleanups. This was industrial-scale funding, funneled through something called a “Green Bank” – a name that sounds reassuring until you realize it was less about banking and more about what any honest person would call a slush fund for left-wing activism. (And if you believe it was really about the environment, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.) The recipients? Eight organizations tasked with sub-awarding these billions to various climate projects, with minimal federal oversight once the checks cleared.
Then came Tuesday’s vindication. A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin could, in fact, freeze and reclaim $16 billion of these hastily distributed funds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit didn’t just overturn a lower court’s ruling – it delivered a crushing blow to the scheme that had tried to Trump-proof billions in taxpayer money. The majority opinion, written by Trump appointee Judge Neomi Rao, essentially said the government has broad authority to cancel funds when it suspects something’s rotten in Denmark.
Zeldin made the announcement in a video posted to social media on Wednesday when he charged the Biden administration of “throwing gold bars off the Titanic” in relation to the money lost on climate projects that he said was a “rush job with reduced oversight.” “The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said.
These weren’t small grants to community gardens or local environmental cleanups. This was industrial-scale funding, funneled through something called a “Green Bank” – a name that sounds reassuring until you realize it was less about banking and more about what any honest person would call a slush fund for left-wing activism. (And if you believe it was really about the environment, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.) The recipients? Eight organizations tasked with sub-awarding these billions to various climate projects, with minimal federal oversight once the checks cleared.
Then came Tuesday’s vindication. A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin could, in fact, freeze and reclaim $16 billion of these hastily distributed funds. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit didn’t just overturn a lower court’s ruling – it delivered a crushing blow to the scheme that had tried to Trump-proof billions in taxpayer money. The majority opinion, written by Trump appointee Judge Neomi Rao, essentially said the government has broad authority to cancel funds when it suspects something’s rotten in Denmark.
Zeldin made the announcement in a video posted to social media on Wednesday when he charged the Biden administration of “throwing gold bars off the Titanic” in relation to the money lost on climate projects that he said was a “rush job with reduced oversight.” “The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said.
70-79, M
