In February, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin moved to recover roughly $20 billion worth of grants which had been handed out to left-wing climate change groups in the closing days of President Joe Biden's term.

Although a federal judge initially blocked that effort, an appeals court handed the Trump administration a legal victory earlier this week. 

Court: Climate change groups can seek monetary damages but not an injunction

According to Breitbart, that decision came down on Tuesday in the form of a two to one ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The opinion was authored by Judge Neomi Rao, who President Donald Trump nominated to the D.C. Circuit court six years ago.

She concluded that the groups can seek monetary damages, they are not entitled to an order blocking the grants from being terminated.

Breitbart noted how Zeldin announced his intention to rescind the grants in a social media video and compared them to "throwing gold bars off the Titanic."

"The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government"

"The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over," Zeldin declared.

🚨The Biden EPA tossed $20 billion of “gold bars off the Titanic”.

BIG UPDATE! We found the gold bars and they are now being recovered for you, the hardworking American taxpayer.

Here are more of the details: pic.twitter.com/DM4C0TQcpj

— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 13, 2025

"The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years," the EPA administrator insisted.

Zeldin went to reference the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program which was unveiled in 2022 by the Biden administration.

Rhode Island Democratic senator calls court ruling an "assault" on Congress

The Washington Post reported that it sought "to leverage public and private dollars to invest in clean-energy technologies such as solar panels, heat pumps and more."

It further stated that Citibank "had an agreement with the Biden administration to oversee the release of $20 billion under the program to nonprofit groups and states."

Zeldin stressed that "[t]he financial agent agreement with the bank needs to be instantly terminated, and the bank must immediately return all of the gold bars that the Biden administration tossed off the Titanic."

Tuesday's court decision was met with criticism from Democrats like Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who condemned it as an "assault" on Congress.