Climate United Fund v. Citibank

In the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress appropriated funds for EPA to make clean-energy grants. The plaintiffs in this case were subsequently awarded grants, and EPA disbursed the funds to them by placing them in grantee accounts at Citibank. In February, 2025, the Trump administration sought to claw back funds by freezing those bank accounts. Several grantees filed suit against Citibank and the EPA. The district court granted the plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction, and Citibank and the EPA appealed. On appeal, after a panel reversed the injunction, the D.C. Circuit granted en banc review.

Public Citizen filed an amicus brief in the en banc proceeding in support of the plaintiffs. The amicus brief responds to the EPA’s argument that the claim that the government’s actions violated the separation of powers should be evaluated as a challenge to the administration’s statutory authority, rather than as a constitutional claim. The brief explains that constitutional challenges and statutory challenges are separate types of claims and the importance of not recasting constitutional claims as statutory ones.