They’re not giving up yet.
On September 19 the parties attempting to restore the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant (ECJBG) filed an appeal with an appellate court in Washington. Some weeks before, a federal judge in district court dismissed the class action lawsuit, which the city of Springfield had joined.
On August 29 Judge Richard Leon dealt a blow to the efforts of Springfield and other municipalities to recover billions Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency illegally rescinded. As had seemed likely after a Supreme Court ruling days before, Leon found that he lacked jurisdiction over the claims and therefore dismissed the case.
Earlier this year, the EPA essentially refused to disburse billions in the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants
SCOTUS dealt a potential blow to efforts to recover grants that Donald Trump’s administration had swiped from Springfield and other municipalities. In a fractured ruling, five of the nine Supremes stayed an order that had required the National Institutes of Health to restore grant funding. The ruling, in effect, said recovery of the funds did not belong in US District Court.
UPDATED 8/5/25 12:34AM: To include an update from the court that it will hear all motions on August 5. Next week, the City of Springfield will do what countless entities have done since January 20—it will march into federal court to confront Donald Trump and