Washington, DC, September 20:
If elected president on November 5, former president Trump has pledged to revoke all unspent funds from the landmark climate bill signed by former president Joe Biden. However, according to officials from the Biden administration, most money will have been spent by the time the new president takes office in January, and it would be extremely difficult to legally target what is left.
According to administration officials, $90 billion has already been distributed to various climate, clean energy, and other projects through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. This represents 70% of the total climate-focused grant money that the law allocated, which is around $120 billion, and more than 80% of what was made available before 2025.
In the next few months, another $15 billion might be granted.Officials are distributing the monies "as quickly and as equitably as we can," according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian, who spoke to Reuters.
She went on to say that with Trump back in office, it would be difficult to freeze the unspent monies and the law's yearly tax credits for items like electric vehicles, solar facilities, and wind farms, which are worth billions of dollars. "No president is above the law, and the law is pretty clear here: The executive branch does not have the authority to withhold appropriated funds just because it might disagree with the policies that Congress enacted," according to Quillian.
At a total worth of more than $400 billion, the Inflation Reduction Act is supposedly the biggest climate law in the history of the United States. Included in that amount are tax credits and incentives, as well as grants and other expenditures meant to encourage the deployment of sustainable energy. "Rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act" was Trump's stated goal in an economic speech he gave on September 5, despite his history of calling climate change a hoax.
The former Republican president is challenging Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, who broke a tie to approve the law, in her bid for the presidency. Harris was Biden's vice president. Republicans will aim to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) within the first 100 days of taking office, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-UT).
The composition of the incoming Congress following the election will determine the likelihood of that happening. No matter how many times Republican leaders in the United States House have tried to repeal the law, they have never been able to secure the necessary votes.
Because of the investments that IRA subsidies have brought to their districts, 18 House Republicans penned a letter encouraging Johnson not to target the law last month. According to Reuters, the Biden administration agencies that have received the majority of the climate-related IRA funds are making rapid progress with their grants.
Examples of agencies that claimed to have spent all or almost all of their IRA-related funds include the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. Nearly $4.9 billion, or nearly all of the $6.4 billion allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act, has been dispersed or made available by the Interior Department.
Meanwhile, 22 out of 24 programs available for substantial IRA tax credits have had their rules finalized by the Treasury Department, and the other programs will have their rules finalized this year. According to Gillian Metzger, a law professor at Columbia University, the 1974 Impoundment Control Act provides provisions that would make it difficult for Trump to repurpose the money. Following President Richard Nixon's policy-based impeachment of funds intended for federal spending, that statute was enacted. According to her, these regulations severely limit the power of presidents to make such decisions.
