Overview

• By a 2-1 vote, Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas held that challenges to the EPA’s grant terminations are contractual disputes that belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
• The panel vacated U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s order that had required Citibank to release funds and had blocked the EPA from clawing them back, and it remanded the case.
• Judge Cornelia Pillard dissented, saying the EPA offered no credible justification and cautioning that the move threatens Congress’s power of the purse.
• Roughly $16–20 billion tied to the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund remains parked at Citibank, with plaintiffs including Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.
• EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin cited conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and reduced oversight—referencing a widely circulated “gold bars” video—while the nonprofits said they will keep litigating and weigh appeals.