On April 23, 2025, the federal government filed a compliance report with the District Court for the District of Rhode Island in Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. USDA (No. 25-cv-97). The lawsuit was brought against USDA, DOE, DOI, EPA, HUD, and OMB for withholding Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds pursuant to President Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order and OMB Memorandum M-25-13.
According to the compliance report, DOI has begun releasing funds for the IRA awards that had been affected by the funding freeze while the litigation is pending in response to the court’s preliminary injunction. DOI identified 464 affected grants, confirmed it has begun disbursing funds for some of them, and is in the process of unfreezing the remaining ones.