On March 10, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, alongside the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), cancelled more than 400 grants across nine programs, totaling $1.7 billion earmarked for the improvement of air and water quality and extreme weather resilience of communities across the nation.[1] This marks the fourth round of cancellations of funding for what EPA refers to as “unnecessary programs.”[2]

The vast majority of these grants were created using funds appropriated by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and were intended, under statutory mandate, for distribution to disadvantaged communities.[3] The cancellation was premised on Executive Order (EO) 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.”[4] However, the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland enjoined the termination of “any awards, contracts or obligations . . . on the basis of the Termination Provision,” which directs agency heads to “terminate . . . all ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts.”[5] That injunction has been stayed by the Fourth Circuit pending appeal, but in the separate opinion explaining the order, Judge Harris noted that “[w]hat the orders say on their face and how they are enforced are two different things,” and that “agency enforcement actions . . . may well raise serious [constitutional] concerns.”[6]

And, of course, two federal district courts have already enjoined the “pausing, freezing, blocking, canceling, suspending, terminating, or otherwise impeding the disbursement of appropriated federal funds.”[7] Despite these injunctions, the pauses in funding having continued, “violat[ing] the plain text of” the orders, and states have since renewed their motions to enforce the injunctions.[8] The continued cancellation of more than 400 grants seems consistent with this administration’s course.

Nine senators on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works have signed on to a letter addressed to EPA Administrator Zeldin, pronouncing the terminations “arbitrary and capricious,” violative of the Impoundment Control Act and Congress’ Article I spending authority, and at odds with EPA’s mission to ensure that “every American should have access to clean air, land, and water.”[9] The letter calls on Zeldin to “cease and desist implementation of EO 14151, rescind the grant terminations, and provide information on EPA’s decision-making process.”[10]

The consequence of these cancellations is that, unless and until EPA rescinds its terminations, the programs that these grants served—including efforts to reduce childhood asthma by improving air quality in affordable housing, improve drinking water on tribal lands, and eliminate childhood lead poisoning—will suffer.[11]

 

 

[1] News Release, EPA Press Office, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Cancels 400+ Grants in 4th Round of Cuts with DOGE, Saving Americans More than $1.7B (Mar. 10, 2025), https://perma.cc/5FCD-59DT; Letter from U.S. Senate Comm. On Env’t and Pub. Works, to Lee Zeldin, Adm’r, EPA (Mar. 25, 2025), https://perma.cc/Z5G3-D5P4.

[2] EPA Press Office, supra note 1.

[3] U.S. Senate Comm. On Env’t and Pub. Works, supra note 1, at 2; Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-169, § 60201(b), 136 Stat. 1818, 2078 (“The Administrator shall use amounts made available . . . to award grants for periods of up to 3 years to eligible entities to carry out activities . . . that benefit disadvantaged communities.”)

[4] U.S. Senate Comm. On Env’t and Pub. Works, supra note 1.

[5] Nat’l Ass’n of Diversity Officers in Higher Educ. v. Trump, No. 25-00333 (D. Md. Feb. 21, 2025) (order granting preliminary injunction).

[6] Nat’l Ass’n of Diversity Officers in Higher Educ. v. Trump, No. 25-1189 (4th Cir. 2025) (order staying preliminary injunction).

[7] See New York v. Trump, No. 25-39 (D.R.I. Mar. 6, 2025) (order granting preliminary injunction); see also Nat’l Council of Nonprofits v. Off. of Mgmt. and Budget, No. 25-230 (D.D.C. Feb. 25, 2025) (order granting preliminary injunction).

[8] New York v. Trump, No. 25-39 (D.R.I. Feb. 10, 2025) (order granting enforcement of the Temporary Restraining Order); see also New York v. Trump, No. 25-00039 (renewed second motion to enforce the court’s orders).

[9] U.S. Senate Comm. On Env’t and Pub. Works, supra note 1, at 2, 4.

[10] Id. at 1.

[11] Hayley Smith, The EPA Plans to Cut Hundreds of Environmental Grants. Democrats Say it’s Illegal, Los Angeles Times (Mar. 27, 2025, 6:00 AM), https://perma.cc/2U46-R86V.