The White House denied reports that it is considering revoking the tax-exempt status of environmental nonprofits, E&E News reported. Despite rumors that the administration would issue an executive order as soon as Tuesday, an official confirmed to the publication that “no such orders are being drafted or considered at this time.”

I spoke to Jillian Blanchard, the vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, earlier on Tuesday about such a hypothetical move by the administration. “The president doesn’t have that authority,” she told me, noting that “there’s an actual law against them directing Treasury to pull tax status.” But Blanchard said that while it isn’t accurate that an executive order could, with the stroke of a pen, take away environmental groups’ tax-exempt status, “part of the process here is trying to fear-monger and get people afraid to give money to 501(c)(3)s.” She suggested nonprofit groups prepare for whatever may be ahead by staying informed, potentially seeking pro bono assistance from groups like Lawyers for Good Government, and getting their tax documentation in order — just in case.

Trump administration attorneys knew they were on uncertain legal ground as they strategized ways to keep eight nonprofit groups from spending $20 billion in Biden-era climate grants that had already left the federal coffers, according to internal government emails obtained by POLITICO.

On top of changes to foreign trade, the Trump administration’s freezing of federal grant programs has squeezed groups of farmers that were counting on USDA assistance to support or expand their operations.

Several federal agencies have suspended or terminated grants, but “USDA has been one of the most aggressive,” said Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government.

Newsweek has reported on some of the other projects affected by the GGRF freeze include solar arrays for homes on the Navajo Nation, energy efficiency improvements for affordable housing in New Mexico and Texas, and a geothermal heating project at a community health clinic in Minneapolis.

Jillian Blanchard, Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program lead for the nonprofit group Lawyers for Good Government, told Newsweek that losing the GGRF funding would lead to losses of jobs and revenue in each of the host communities.

The federal government has slashed a grant that provided hands-on science and engineering lessons for Springfield children, ending a learning opportunity for an estimated 1,000 third-graders.

Officials at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst learned last week that two of its federal grants totaling roughly $500,000 have been cut.

Many grantees, particularly those associated with universities, are hesitant to speak out about the impact a loss in funds will have on their projects.

“They’re just struggling and trying to figure out, ‘How do we push back in a way that doesn’t put a target on us?’” said Ryan Hathaway, director of environment and climate justice at Lawyers for Good Government.

“They cannot challenge an entire program based on charges of fraud and waste,” said Jillian Blanchard, a vice president of the nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government. “If they had actual concerns about fraud or waste, they would need to follow clear procedures and protocols in the regulations, going grant by grant to address this, but that’s not what’s happening here. They are challenging entire programs whole cloth without evidence. 

Ryan Hathaway describes his work on environmental justice in the federal government as similar to steering aircraft carriers: due to their size, it takes a long time to turn them before you can get them moving in a better direction.

Until earlier this year, Hathaway worked in the Biden White House as both the director of environmental justice and director of the White House Interagency Council on Environmental Justice. 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has launched a brazen assault on regulations, canceled environmental grants and eliminated the agency’s environmental justice wing — all in less than two months.

The policies are in lockstep with President Donald Trump’s plan to “power the great American comeback,” lower the cost of cars and slash federal spending, Zeldin has said.

The Environmental Protection Agency says it’s officially canceling $20 billion in Biden-era climate funding that was awarded to several nonprofits.

Earlier this week, the agency announced it would “re-obligate” the funds “with enhanced controls to ensure adequate governance, transparency, and accountability.” The administration has alleged that the funds were mismanaged and issued with political bias, but so far hasn’t produced the evidence needed to legally block the funds.

Nate Powell-Palm, an organic farmer outside Belgrade, Montana, was relying on a $648,000 grant from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service to help build a feed mill - an economic lifeline for about 150 area organic grain farmers.

But construction is on hold following the Trump Administration's freeze on some agricultural grants and loans as it conducts a broad review of federal spending.

A multibillion dollar dispute between the Environmental Protection Agency and several nonprofit organizations escalated on Saturday when one group sued the E.P.A. and Citibank, seeking access to grant money that has been frozen under President Trump.

Climate United, a nonprofit organization, claimed that the E.P.A. and Citibank have illegally withheld a nearly $7 billion award announced last April. Citibank has housed the funds as part of a green financing program to finance projects that address climate change.

A federal judge Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s freezing of congressionally approved federal funding, which has affected a variety of services and programs across the country, including climate and conservation work approved under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The USDA said more announcements about funding are forthcoming, as the agency continues to review IRA funding, “to ensure that programs are focused on supporting farmers and ranchers, not DEIA programs or far-left climate programs.”

The lack of movement troubles Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government — an organization of lawyers based in Washington, D.C., working to “protect and strengthen democratic institutions.”

An environmental policy official from the Biden White House has joined the nonprofit Lawyers for Good Government to help lead the organization's climate change and environmental justice initiatives.

Ryan Hathaway joined Lawyers for Good Government, which coordinates large-scale pro bono and advocacy efforts, as its director of environment and climate justice, the group said Tuesday.

Ryan Hathaway has joined Lawyers for Good Government as director of environment and climate justice. He previously served at the Interior Department and as director of the White House Interagency Council on Environmental Justice.

After a month of President Donald Trump’s time in office, federal officials are beginning to make good on efforts to shrink the federal government. Recent changes include canceled contracts at the U.S. EPA and new announcements regarding workforce reductions. 

Groups representing the public sector have pushed back on some of these changes. Lawyers for Good Government reported receiving more than 230 requests for legal assistance from organizations struggling to access climate and clean energy grants. Lawsuits to ensure EPA program funds are disbursed remain ongoing.

The Trump EPA is trying to cancel $20 billion dollars of funding in what’s known as the “Green Bank”, which provides loans for local clean energy, energy efficiency upgrades and more. Without providing evidence, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the program of being rife with fraud and waste. Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of Climate Change and Environmental Justice at Lawyers for Good Government, joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to discuss the impacts to nonprofits and private contractors who are unable to access their funds.

President Donald Trump’s promised assault on federal climate policies is sweeping across Washington, state capitals and private industry with a speed that’s surprising even some of his supporters and critics — and could leave an impact on the planet’s future well after his presidency.

“This shock and awe campaign will undo decades of bipartisan and international efforts to curb greenhouse gases and, if left unchecked, will lead to the planet warming far beyond manageable levels,” said Jillian Blanchard, who runs the climate change program at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit watchdog group.

President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal funding shows little sign of thawing for climate, energy and environmental justice programs.

Despite two federal court orders directing the administration to resume distributing federal grants and loans, at least $19 billion in Environmental Protection Agency funding to thousands of state and local governments and nonprofits remained on hold as of Feb. 14, said environmental and legal advocates who are tracking the issue.

An open letter, prepared by American lawyers and spearheaded by Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), addresses critical concerns regarding recent executive actions that potentially threaten constitutional democracy and the rule of law in the United States.

“A lot of the grantees impacted are … rural community farmers in Massachusetts and Arizona, [or] small nonprofits on the ground trying to implement air monitoring programs,” said Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate change and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, a nonprofit legal advocacy group. “These are entities that don’t have a financial buffer. If they suffer significant delays, they will go under, they will go bankrupt, the programs will not happen.”