Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
EPA's move to rescind $20 billion in grants under the IRA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund could potentially make it easier for Congress to fully repeal the program.
Why it matters: The fund is among the biggest IRA targets for Republicans in reconciliation.
Driving the news: Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito told Axios she hopes the move will enable her to eliminate the GGRF in reconciliation.
- "I'm for that," she said Wednesday.
Zoom in: The Biden EPA had fully obligated and begun dispersing that money, which officials believed protected it from outright Republican repeal efforts via reconciliation.
- Capito said earlier in the year she may be able to take back only a "fraction" of the money the agency was appropriated in the IRA.
- Now EPA says it's terminating those grant agreements and making allegations about fraud and abuse.
- EPA said in a news release it "will work to re-obligate lawfully appropriated funds in the GGRF with enhanced controls."
Yes, but: Grant recipients had already taken the Trump EPA to court over its handling of the program, and they've said the grant terminations are illegal.
- "This is not how the Constitution, the appropriations process, or contract law works," EPW Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement.
- Whitehouse also sent a letter to DOJ on Tuesday alleging that the administration is "purposefully misusing the tools of law enforcement" to go after the program.
What we're watching: EPA has also moved to reorganize and close all its environmental justice offices.
