WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three climate groups by the Biden administration, saying the government's “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud are insufficient.”
The order by U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan prevents — for now — the Environmental Protection Agency from ending the grant program, which totaled $20 billion. The judge also blocked Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the grant recipients of mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing and froze the grants. But after reviewing arguments in the case, Chutkan said Zeldin's allegations fell short.
“At this juncture, EPA Defendants have not sufficiently explained why unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs’ grant awards was a rational precursor to reviewing” the green bank program, Chutkan wrote.
She was the third judge of the day to rule against the Trump administration. The trio of rulings came within hours of an extraordinary conflict, as President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of another judge who had temporarily blocked deportation flights. Trump's message drew a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Climate United Fund and other groups had sued the EPA, Zeldin and Citibank, saying they had illegally denied the groups access to $14 billion awarded last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank." The program was created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects.
Climate United and two other groups, the Coalition for Green Capital and Power Forward Communities, said the freeze not only prevented them from financing new projects, but might force them to lay off staff. They said the allegations they were mishandling funds were utterly meritless.
The nonprofits also wanted Judge Chutkan to order Citibank to unfreeze the account. She declined to do so. The order simply preserves the status quo while the case proceeds.
Climate United was awarded nearly $7 billion, the Coalition for Green Capital won $5 billion and Power Forward Communities was awarded $2 billion. Republicans unanimously voted against the law that created the grant program and have denounced it as an unaccountable "slush fund.''
After the funds were frozen, the EPA moved to terminate the grants.
Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said the judge's decision Tuesday was “a step in the right direction.”
“In the coming weeks, we will continue working towards a long-term solution that will allow us to invest in projects that deliver energy savings, create jobs, and boost American manufacturing in communities across the country,” Bafford said.
Zeldin said in a statement posted on X Tuesday that the grants were awarded “in a manner that deliberately reduced the ability of EPA to conduct proper oversight.”
“I will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are returned to the U.S. Treasury," he said.
Zeldin has characterized the grants as a “gold bar” scheme marred by conflicts of interest and potential fraud.
“Twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution, in a deliberate effort to limit government oversight — doling out your money through just eight pass-through, politically connected, unqualified and in some cases brand-new” nonprofit organizations, Zeldin said in a video previously posted online.
Climate United countered that the termination was unlawful, arguing the federal government had identified no evidence of waste, fraud or abuse.
Phillis reported from St. Louis.
FILE - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Building is shown in Washington, Sept. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Vice President JD Vance, right, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, listen as Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, center, speaks in East Palestine Fire Station on Feb 3, 2025, in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday “aimed at eliminating” the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. The Justice Department is resisting a federal judge’s demand for more information about flights that took deportees to El Salvador, arguing that the court should end its “continued intrusions” into executive branch authority. A different federal judge allowed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to remain in control of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit created by Congress. And the Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in funding for the University of Pennsylvania over a transgender swimmer who last competed for the school in 2022.
Here's the latest:
The equity goal of the Education Department, which was created by Congress in 1979, emerged partly from the anti-poverty and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
But as the Trump administration moves to dismantle it, officials have suggested other agencies could take over its major responsibilities: civil rights enforcement to the Justice Department, perhaps; student loans to Treasury or Commerce; oversight of student disability rights to Health and Human Services.
Advocates are worried about what could happen with a more lofty part of the department’s mission — promoting equal access for students in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal. Without the department, they’re concerned that the federal government would not look out in the same way for poor students, those still learning English, disabled students and racial and ethnic minorities.
▶ Read more about the impact of this dismantling of the Education Department
Badar Khan Suri was determined to be deportable for “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said late Wednesday on X.
A Georgetown statement says the Indian national was “duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan” while studying at the university’s center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
“We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention,” the school said. “We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
▶ Read more on the Georgetown scholar’s detention
That’s according to the Labor Department’s latest tally of jobless claims filings, showing they rose by 2,000 last week to slightly less than the 224,000 new applications analysts forecast.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of March 8 rose by 33,000 to 1.89 million.
Economists don’t expect the Trump administration’s federal workforce layoffs to appear until the March jobs report.
▶ Read more about unemployment and layoff numbers
Across wine country in France, Italy and Spain one number is top of mind: 200%.
That’s because last week Trump threatened a tariff of that amount on European wine, Champagne and other spirits if the European Union went ahead with retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products. The top wine producers in Europe could face crippling costs that would hit smaller wineries especially hard.
Europe’s wine industry is the latest to find itself in the crosshairs of a possible trade spat with the U.S.
Italy, France and Spain are among the top five exporters of wine to the United States. Trump made his threat to Europe’s alcohol industry after the European Union announced a 50% tax on American whiskey expected to take effect on April 1. That duty was unveiled in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.
▶ Read more about the possible tax on foreign liquor
The White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the announcement, said Trump plans to sign the order on Thursday.
Finalizing the elimination of the Department of Education would require an act of Congress.
But a White House fact sheet said the order would direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon “to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Associated Press reporter Chris Megerian contributed.
In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures — which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone.
Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency’s “my Social Security” online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.
The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.
Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access.
▶ Read more about changes being made to social security
Maine’s education office is being ordered to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports or face federal prosecution, an escalation in Trump’s threats to pull federal money from states and schools over transgender athletes.
The Education Department on Wednesday said an investigation concluded Maine’s education office violated the Title IX antidiscrimination law by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ sports teams and use girls’ facilities. It’s giving Maine 10 days to comply with a list of demands or face Justice Department prosecution.
The federal investigation was opened Feb. 21, just hours after Trump and the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, clashed over the issue at a meeting of governors at the White House. During the heated exchange, Mills told the Republican president, “We’ll see you in court.”
▶ Read more about the investigation into Maine’s Department of Education
People gather to protest against Israel and President Donald Trump in front of a Trump-branded building Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
People rally at the University of California, Berkeley campus to protest the Trump administration Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
