Bank accounts for $20B climate program frozen amid Trump administration scrutiny

The bank accounts of nonprofits administering a $20 billion climate program have been frozen as the program faces significant scrutiny from the Trump administration.

One grant recipient has confirmed to The Hill that their account with Citibank has been frozen in the wake of pressure from the administration. At least two others told E&E News, which first reported the freeze, that they were in the same boat.

The program in question, which is funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, provides $20 billion to help finance the deployment of climate-friendly projects.

Last year, the Biden administration awarded that cash to eight institutions that are in charge of doling it out to projects aimed at mitigating climate change.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has been critical of the program, however, and at least some of those eight entities have had their accounts frozen in recent weeks.

A representative from one of the organizations told The Hill that their funds were originally frozen by Citi for a day after Zeldin voiced his criticism. The account was briefly unfrozen, but was made inaccessible again last week. The representative said that they have requested information from Citibank and the EPA, but have not received it as of Monday.

In the meantime, the organization does not have access to funds needed for their operations.

A spokesperson for Citibank declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the EPA directed The Hill to a recent video of Zeldin in which he indicated that he wanted to claw back funds for the program and said he would get the Justice Department involved.

"The financial agent agreement with the bank needs to be instantly terminated and the bank must immediately return all of the gold bars that the Biden Administration tossed off the Titanic,” Zeldin said in the video, which was posted online earlier this month.

“EPA needs to reassume responsibility for all of these funds. We will review every penny that has gone out the door,” he added.

The EPA chief also said in the video that he would work with the Justice Department on the matter.

Justice Department prosecutor Denise Cheung resigned last week after she was reportedly pressured to investigate the program and freeze its funding.

Zeldin has characterized the program as an example of wasteful government spending — and has argued that the money was rushed out the door.

However, the program’s supporters and grant recipients have pushed back on that narrative — noting that the funding was dispersed prior to the election and that the program is written into the law.

A group of Democratic senators on Monday wrote a letter to Zeldin criticizing his efforts to recoup the funding.

"Because there is no legal basis for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to claw back these expended ... grants, and because doing so would destroy thousands of jobs and harm hundreds of communities across the country, we call on you to respect applicable legal authority, reconsider your decision, and ensure funding is available as the law requires," said the letter, which was spearheaded by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

"Your announcement is the latest example of the Trump Administration and its government efficiency 'experts' using unfounded claims of waste, fraud, and abuse as a smokescreen to ignore congressional spending authority and ignore court orders in order to freeze or terminate programs designed to reduce carbon pollution," it continued.

It also requested the agency provide additional information by March 3.

It’s not immediately clear how long the funds will be frozen for. Republicans could potentially try to repeal the provisions of the law establishing the program as well. However, if the money is no longer in the government’s hands, it’s also unclear how such an effort would play out in practice.

In the meantime, the representative who spoke with The Hill said that the grantee organization was weighing its legal options.

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