Washington, DC — Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s freeze on billions in congressionally approved infrastructure and environmental funding for communities across the nation. The court’s ruling, which secures the largest release of this critical funding to date, will allow vital community projects across the country to resume without further delay.

Democracy Forward represents Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, National Council of Nonprofits, Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District, Childhood Lead Action Project, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Green Infrastructure Center in this case. The plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction last month asking the court to immediately lift the Trump administration’s unlawful freeze on billions in congressionally approved funds under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Congress passed these laws to support infrastructure improvements, climate initiatives, and public health protections.

See coverage below:

Washington Post: Trump administration must unfreeze billions in climate funding, judge rules

Five government agencies must release billions of dollars in funding for climate and infrastructure-related projects that had been paused by the Trump administration, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary injunction that instructs the administration to release the funds while the lawsuit proceeds. The injunction applies nationwide.

Environmental nonprofit groups filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island after the federal government froze funds approved by Congress under two Biden-era laws to fight climate change and improve infrastructure, among other goals. President Donald Trump paused the awards given through the two statutes — the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — with an executive order on his first day in office.

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a liberal-leaning legal group that is representing the nonprofits, described the funding freeze as “another abuse of executive power that has already inflicted harm on communities nationwide.” The group said in a news release that McElroy’s injunction secures the “largest release of this critical funding to date.”

“Today’s ruling marks a crucial victory for the rule of law and ensures these vital resources will flow to the people and projects Congress intended to support,” Perryman said in a statement Tuesday.

Reuters: US judge blocks Trump’s freeze on climate, infrastructure grants

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Providence, Rhode Island, issued an injunction at the behest of environmental groups who argued the Trump administration was unlawfully freezing already-awarded funding for projects to combat climate change, reduce pollution and modernize U.S. infrastructure.

“Agencies do not have unlimited authority to further a President’s agenda, nor do they have unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity two statutes passed by Congress during the previous administration,” McElroy said.

The group that led the lawsuit, Democracy Forward, said in a statement that Trump’s action was an abuse of executive power.

“By blocking these investments in local communities and projects, the administration is jeopardizing public health initiatives, environmental protections, and economic stability,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said.

Law360: Judge Tells Feds To Unfreeze Climate, Infrastructure Funds

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies must “turn the funding spigots back on” while environmental groups challenge the Trump administration’s decision to cut congressionally approved dollars for infrastructure, agriculture, climate and other initiatives, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, an attorney for the conservation groups, said in a statement Tuesday that the judge “has seen the Trump administration’s freeze of congressionally approved funds for what it is: another abuse of executive power that has already inflicted harm on communities nationwide.”

“By blocking these investments in local communities and projects, the administration is jeopardizing public health initiatives, environmental protections, and economic stability,” Perryman said. “Today’s ruling marks a crucial victory for the rule of law and ensures these vital resources will flow to the people and projects Congress intended to support.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Amato A. DeLuca and Miriam Weizenbaum of DeLuca Weizenbaum Barry & Revens and Kevin E. Friedl, Jessica A. Morton, Robin F. Thurston and Skye L. Perryman of Democracy Forward Foundation.

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Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.