An appeals court blocked a federal judge’s ruling that would have prevented the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating $20 billion in grants for several climate groups. 

Late Wednesday, the D.C. Court of Appeals put a hold on U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling that allowed climate groups access to grant money held in Citibank, allowing itself time to consider a full opinion from Chutkan.

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“The purpose of this order is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the district court’s forthcoming opinion in support of its order granting a preliminary injunction together with the emergency motion for stay pending appeal and any response thereto, and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the D.C. Court of Appeals wrote in an unsigned order. 

The appellate court’s decision is the latest twist in the legal battle between three climate groups and the EPA. The EPA is seeking to terminate the groups’ grant money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was established as part of the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

“Despite a robust and clear decision from a federal judge, the appeal is no surprise. We stand firm on the merits of our case and will press forward to deliver on our promises to communities across America,” Beth Bafford, the CEO of Climate United, said in a statement.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has claimed that the grant money was improperly distributed because it was routed through Citibank. The EPA froze the funds for eight weeks and attempted to cancel $20 billion in grants from eight nonprofit organizations in the program.

Zeldin has called the funds “gold bars,” referring to a video last year in which a former EPA employee said the Biden administration was trying to disburse promised funds quickly before the next administration. 

“It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic, and we’re throwing like gold bars off the edge,” the former employee says in the video.

However, the EPA’s efforts were quickly met with lawsuits brought by three climate groups: Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.

The climate groups received relief from Chutkan’s preliminary injunction, which called on Citibank to disburse expenses that the groups incurred before the funding freeze started in February.

“When agencies fail to operate within the bounds of the law—whether through breaching agreements, arbitrary decision-making, or ignoring regulations—they erode public trust, materially affect the rights and interests of individuals and organizations, and undermine confidence in the very institutions meant to serve the people,” Chutkan wrote in her opinion on the preliminary injunction. 

“The integrity of government actions depends not only on the decisions made but on the consistent and lawful execution of those decisions,” the judge added. 

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The fund was given $27 billion to help climate projects across the United States, specifically in low-income communities. The three nonprofit groups suing the EPA were granted $14 billion under the program’s National Clean Investment Fund. 

The D.C. Court of Appeals set a deadline for later this month for the parties to file an emergency motion for stay pending appeal and to file a response or reply.