Pearl River Trying to really track the work of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency or DOGE isn’t easy, partly, as has already been established by countless reports, because much of the work is simply a magical mystery tour through government agencies. What the heck, we ought to give it go when we have a chance to get in the weeds, I thought. The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a story about the shellacking that Louisiana is potentially taking to the tune of more than $70 million lost to various state agencies, universities, and other nonprofits. The article included a link to the source of this information, the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Workers, where two Democratic Senators released a list of 400 grants that EPA was proposing to terminate. The source of almost all of the recognized list of these awards was the Biden Infrastructure Recovery Act (IRA).
I took a shot at trying to follow the trail of crumbs to see how badly people are being hurt, since these grants deal with air quality, lead poisoning, and more. It was a headache, so I don’t recommend it, but try if you may.
Some of the information strains the imagination. There are pages and pages of grants to nonprofits that were issued in 2024, where almost nothing was actually expended. The Metropolitan Tenants Organization in Illinois was awarded $500,000 under the obligation column, but still had $403,000 as a remaining balance. Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice was awarded $474,000 and supposedly received zero so far. Farmworkers Justice Fund was supposed to get $500 grand and still didn’t get $437,000. Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing coalition I know well, $472,000 with $425,000 outstanding. And, so on. Is it really possible that in many of these cases six months would have gone by, and they were granted so little? Perhaps and perilously so. One expert in dealing with EPA said often the work is performed and paid for, and only then is the invoice sent to EPA for reimbursement. If that’s the case, and these are binding contracts, these projects must be made whole, so there’s no or little savings.
As important as these kinds of grants were to these groups and their communities, all of that is really small potatoes and weak tea compared to the big grants. The places that were hit the hardest for the big money were cities, counties, and universities. New Haven, Connecticut won $20 million and EPA is trying to cancel the $20 million. Same for Springfield, Massachusetts, a big grant in Rhode Island, the Tri-County area around Buttle, Montana, and Puerto Rico. Xavier University in New Orleans is watching $20 million go out the door. The University of Wisconsin and many others are feeling the same pain. Many of these grants were awarded late in 2024 and in some cases in early 2025, so their money likely hasn’t moved and the paperwork could still be dragging. It’s just hard to tell.
There’s no question that Congress passed the IRA and appropriated the money. In that case, how does this play out legally. If the Trump administration is claiming that they have the right to cancel grants and contracts because administration priorities have changed, how do they explain this to Congress? Does the money revert to the EPA coffers, making them obligated now to regrant the same money under the current administration’s priorities? Does it go back to Treasury? Who knows?
There’s little question that we all lose something in these slash-and-burn cuts. Ideologically, maybe the Trumpers want to hurt tenant unions, community organizations, and farmworker outfit in the usual “defund the left” program, but is it really possible that they don’t understand that cutting local governments, port commissions, and state government programs actually entails a political cost and damages millions of people. The unintended consequences could bring this administration down, even as it is blinded by its intended efforts to increase injustice and damage the environment.