The Trump administration was handed a win by a federal appeals court on Tuesday in its effort to freeze billions of dollars and terminate contracts for nonprofits to run a “green bank” aimed at financing climate-friendly projects.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency had blasted the Biden-era program as a waste of taxpayer money, tried to claw back funding that had already been distributed and accused the nonprofits of mismanagement — misuse accusations that Justice Department lawyers did not back up in court.
The decision by the 2-1 majority on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit finds that federal officials have broad latitude to cancel funds that have been appropriated by Congress without facing allegations in federal district court that they broke the law. A strongly worded dissent said the outcome was a loss not just for the five green bank groups who sued the EPA, but for the authority of Congress to write policy and maintain its traditional power of the purse.
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