On February 24, 2026, the en banc D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) appeal of a district court’s preliminary injunction (1) barring EPA from effectuating terminations of grants under the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA’s) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and (2) requiring the disbursement of frozen funds for two GGRF programs. A split D.C. Circuit panel vacated the preliminary injunction in September 2025, and the court granted a petition for rehearing en banc in December 2025. For a discussion of the oral argument and the case’s potential outcomes, see this <a href="https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2026/03/06/uncertain-remedies-for-frozen-federal-climate-funding/">Climate Law Blog post</a>. On March 9, the court ordered the parties to file supplemental briefs to address the ramifications of the repeal of the IRA’s GGRF provision by Section 60002 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which occurred after the district court granted the preliminary injunction. In particular, the court asked the parties to address whether a claim of violation of the GGRF provision and/or the U.S. Constitution continued to provide a valid basis to affirm all or part of the preliminary injunction.

Lawsuits challenging EPA's freezing and purported termination of funding under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Climate United Fund v. Citibank, N.A.

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D.C. Circuit Requested Additional Briefing After En Banc Oral Argument in Challenge to EPA Inflation Reduction Act Funding Freeze

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United States of America

District of Columbia

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