White House says order pausing IRA disbursements only applies to some programs

Source: Reuters

January 22, 2025 6:11 PM EST Updated 10 hours ago


Jan 22 (Reuters) - The White House said President Donald Trump’s order this week pausing the disbursement of funds appropriated under his predecessor’s signature climate and infrastructure laws mainly applies to programs that discourage fossil fuel development or boost electric vehicles.

As part of a flurry of executive orders hours after taking office on Monday, Trump ordered government agencies to pause funds flowing from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The White House Office of Management and Budget clarified in a memo, dated on Tuesday, that Trump’s order only applies to funds that contravene a list of stated policy aims, which include encouraging more energy production on federal lands and eliminating support for EVs. Funds going to other programs, such as bridges, transit and highways, will not be affected. It is unclear whether the order puts much funding at risk.

Biden's administration had said prior to Trump’s inauguration that the vast majority of grants for clean energy programs appropriated under the IRA, for example, had already been obligated and were protected, with just $11 billion outstanding. The bulk of the IRA’s support for clean energy and EVs, meanwhile, derives from tax credits that can only be revoked with an act of Congress.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/white-house-says-order-pausing-ira-disbursements-only-applies-some-programs-2025-01-22/

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As a note - the media kept demanding - "Where is Biden?" "Where is Biden?" Well this is an example of what he was doing - making sure his Department heads took care of whatever unspent funds remained and get them OBLIGATED (which could be generating task orders, delivery orders, grants, etc) so that it would pretty much take an act of Congress to dislodge (or get sued for breach of contract). Any other funds appropriated but not obligated would normally fall back into the Treasury.