In the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Congress appropriated hundreds of billions of dollars for climate, clean energy, and environmental justice programs. Under President Biden, federal agencies awarded $210.9 billion of IRA and IIJA grant funding, and awardees are now implementing projects. The incoming administration campaigned on reducing government spending and President Trump announced plans to “terminate” “unspent” IRA funds; Project 2025 outlines plans to repeal, scale back, or redirect federal climate funding. Though the Trump administration’s specific plans for the IRA and IIJA are not yet clear, the incoming administration and new Congress create risk for some of the IRA– and IIJA–funded climate programs.
In this paper (updated Mar. 6), we look at competitive grant and tax programs and explain that the federal government loses authority to take back grant funds for policy reasons as money moves from Congress to the agency and on to the award winners. However, the executive maintains discretion to take back misused funds.