**Judicial Victory for Climate Funding: Judges Block Trump Administration's Freeze**

Two federal judges push back against Trump's climate funding freeze, benefiting nonprofits awaiting financial support.

In a significant development for environmental advocacy, two federal judges ruled on Tuesday to unfreeze substantial federal climate funds, overturning a contentious freeze imposed by the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, presiding over the District of Columbia, mandated the immediate release of up to $625 million tied to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—a key initiative that had been sidelined since mid-February due to political maneuvering. This "green bank" program has been criticized by Lee Zeldin, the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as he seeks to reshape the agency's direction.

Simultaneously, Judge Mary S. McElroy from the District of Rhode Island issued an order requiring five federal agencies to provide access to environmental and infrastructure funding promised to nonprofits during the Biden administration. Judge McElroy criticized the indefinite freeze, labeling it “neither reasonable nor reasonably explained,” and noted that the impacted nonprofits could plausibly argue the freezes lacked justifiable reason and were "fundamentally arbitrary."

These court decisions reflect ongoing legal challenges against the Trump administration's freeze on billions in funding from two significant laws—namely, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, both passed in 2021 and 2022. While judges have repeatedly directed the administration to release these funds, the Trump administration has managed to circumvent compliance, citing legal loopholes and alleging that such pauses align with executive orders issued by President Trump since his inauguration.