Pallone and Whitehouse to EPA: Release Your Illegal Hold on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

Demand Comes After Federal Judge Orders Agency to Cease Its Illegal Witch Hunt to Claw Back Nearly $20 Billion in Congressionally Appropriated and Legally Obligated Funding

Washington, D.C. – Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) wrote to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin today calling on the agency to cease its unconstitutional crusade to destroy the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a grant program investing in affordable clean energy deployment that would spur economic development, lower energy costs, and reduce pollution.  Not only has Administrator Zeldin gaslit the American public, fabricating claims of fraud in the GGRF without producing any evidence, but he also lacks the legal authority to terminate the agreements with GGRF grantees.  The Democratic lawmakers demanded the agency release the funds it has been illegally withholding since February 12, 2025.

The Democratic Committee leaders’ letter follows a court decision against the EPA that ordered the agency to end its illegal freeze of GGRF funding. The federal court for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA failed to present any evidence to support its claims of wrongdoing on the part of grantees and that the agency repeatedly broke the law in its attempts to freeze funds and terminate contracts. The court order directed Citibank, which holds the GGRF investments, to restore grantees’ access to their legally obligated funds. While the order has been stayed pending appeal, the federal judge’s ruling eviscerated Administrator Zeldin’s politically motivated witch hunt against the GGRF and reaffirmed the soundness and transparency of the program. 

“We write today to request that the Environmental Protection Agency cease, once and for all, its baseless efforts to undermine the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” Whitehouse and Pallone wrote. “For months, the Trump Administration waged an unprecedented and defamatory assault on this program, unlawfully weaponizing the federal government in an inexplicable effort to deprive hardworking Americans of low-cost financing that will help them lower their energy bills, make their communities more resilient, and generate good local jobs.”

Whitehouse and Pallone also raised serious concerns over the EPA’s failure to respond to congressional oversight requests or provide justification for the agency’s actions. Both Whitehouse and Pallone have repeatedly demanded answers from Administrator Zeldin about the Administration’s lawless crusade to halt the distribution of legally obligated funds. Tellingly, they have received no responses. 

“EPA failed to answer those questions or provide any other evidence to support its accusations,” Whitehouse and Pallone continued. “In court, your own lawyers confirmed the lack of evidence to support your accusations of waste, fraud, and abuse. Your silence in response to our inquiries is striking.”

The Democratic lawmakers called on Administrator Zeldin and the EPA to end their attacks on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the program’s grantees and instead work to ensure the program can effectively lower costs, build more resilient communities, and create jobs. 

“If, as you’ve stated, you are truly committed to addressing Americans’ ‘serious concerns about upward economic mobility and their struggle to make ends meet’–and if, as you testified before Congress, you ‘believe in the rule of law’ and remain committed to upholding your ‘obligations under the law’–you will end your fruitless attack on the GGRF and work with us to ensure this program delivers on its potential,” Whitehouse and Pallone concluded.

Read the full letter HERE.