Court Strikes Down Obama Judge’s Ruling—Again

A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday, clearing the way for it to continue terminating $16 billion in “climate” grants to nonprofits to reportedly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A split panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled 2-1 to overturn U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan’s order that blocked the administration from withholding the grants.

The appeals court held that Chutkan, an Obama appointee, lacked the authority to block the grants, calling her attempt to do so an “abuse … [of] discretion.”

This isn’t the first such reversal for Chutkan. In March, the appeals court struck down an order she issued requiring Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents relating to DOGE’s activities and future plans.

That isn’t all.

In late October 2023, Chutkan issued a gag order in one of President Donald Trump’s cases challenging the 2020 election outcome. Less than a week later, the same appeals court temporarily halted her order. It ultimately overturned her order in part and upheld it in part.

Now, Chutkan finds another one of her orders struck down on appeal yet again. 

Tuesday’s case concerns grants awarded by President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency in August 2024 as part of its “National Clean Investment Fund” and “Clean Communities Investment Accelerator” initiatives. The funds were held in government-controlled Citibank accounts from which nonprofit awardees could withdraw them.

The nonprofits included the Climate United Fund, the Coalition for Green Capital, the Justice Climate Fund Inc., and others.

But in early 2025, Trump’s EPA decided to terminate the grants, citing conflicts of interest and a lack of government oversight. In one instance, it alleged the former director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—an EPA program created by the Inflation Reduction Act—personally oversaw a $5 billion grant to his previous employer.

But five of the nonprofit grantees—with grants totaling $16 billion—sued, saying Trump’s decision was unconstitutional, unlawful, and “arbitrary and capricious.”

In March, Chutkan sided with the nonprofits, preventing the EPA from clawing back the grant money from the Citibank accounts. 

Tuesday’s appeals court decision vacates her order, giving the Trump administration the go-ahead to remove the funds.

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