The Biden administration is facing mounting pressure to dole out tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to a left-wing nonprofit that advocates for defunding the police, prison abolition and the “liberation” of Palestinian territories before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The left-wing advocates lobbying President Joe Biden include members of his own administration’s staff.
A group of federal government employees, dubbed the “federal environment and energy workers for justice in Palestine,” wrote an open letter to the White House, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) published on Medium on Thursday. The anonymous career staffers are demanding that the administration disburse all designated federal funds to the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and end collaboration with Israel.
Last year, the EPA selected Climate Justice Alliance, a Berkeley, California-based nonprofit, to receive a $50 million grant award despite the entity promoting the “defund the police” movement.
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“While our work typically does not engage on foreign policy issues, the ongoing genocide in Gaza has compelled us to speak truthfully on the hypocrisy of protecting human health and the environment within U.S. borders while our government continues to fund and facilitate the destruction of entire communities and ecosystems overseas,” the group of federal government employees wrote. “We call upon EPA and DOE to end their collaboration with Israel until there is a permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Palestine. We also urge EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the White House to release all designated federal funds to Climate Justice Alliance.”
“Palestine is an environmental and climate justice issue,” the group added. “There can be no climate and environmental justice within the United States while we perpetuate climate and environmental disasters abroad.”
With just 30 days until Trump takes office, the EPA has not moved forward in obligating the grant money to the left-wing nonprofit. Given CJA’s history of engaging in anti-Israel advocacy following Hamas’ October 7th attacks and promoting the “defund the police” movement, the Trump administration will almost certainly decline to transfer any taxpayer dollars to the nonprofit.
The Trump transition previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the incoming administration, in addition to repealing the IRA, is planning to redirect unspent funding from the legislation Trump has nicknamed the “Green New Scam” to spending on infrastructure.
“The American people re-elected President Trump because they trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world,” Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition spokesman told the DCNF in a statement on Friday. “When he returns to the White House, he will take the necessary action to do just that.”
‘Deeply Disappointed’ In Admin For Withholding Grant Money
In December 2023, the EPA selected CJA, a Berkeley, California-based “environmental justice” nonprofit, to receive a $50 million grant award under the IRA’s $3 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants provision.
The EPA’s selectees include recipients that operate in China under the supervision of the Chinese Communist Party foreign influence operation, support open borders, hand out funds to a group blacklisted by U.S. credit card companies over their fiscal support for a Palestinian terror group and advocate for defunding the U.S. military, according to the DCNF’s extensive reporting on the program.
CJA is the only nonprofit out of the 11 announced recipients of the EPA’s “environmental justice thriving communities grantmaking program” that has not received a portion of its grant award, according to a DCNF review of USA Spending grant obligation amounts.
CJA has accused the EPA of “viewpoint discrimination” over the nonprofit’s anti-Israel advocacy as the agency’s reason for withholding the grant money.
“This is a larger attack on civil society and due process in our democratic grantmaking and environmental work,” KD Chavez, executive director of CJA, told E&E News in November.
Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a prominent critic of Israel, agreed in a post on X published on Thursday.
The Climate Justice Alliance’s members include the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, and Soulardarity. Punishing their advocacy for human rights wrongly denies our communities critical funds for environmental justice. https://t.co/peTpVPavQB
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida)
“Punishing their [CJA’s] advocacy for human rights wrongly denies our communities critical funds for environmental justice,” Tlaib stated.
Tlaib joined 51 other Democratic lawmakers in sending a letter to Biden on Dec. 4, urging the administration to “move expeditiously” to disburse all IRA money before Trump takes office, which would include the funds designated for CJA.
The group’s federal employees have also come to CJA’s defense stating, “voicing opposition to genocide should not be politicized.”
“In our roles as civil servants, we commit to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used responsibly to serve the good of the public,” the agency career staff added. “We have been deeply disappointed to witness EPA’s current withholding of $60 million to the Climate Justice Alliance, the only one of the eleven grantees that courageously spoke out against the environmental toll and human rights violations in Palestine.”
‘Condemn’ Biden Admin’s Israel Ties
The group of federal employees also demand that EPA and DOE cut all ties with Israel, citing their belief that the Israeli military is committing genocide in Gaza.
“We condemn EPA’s collaboration and the DOE’s partnership with Israel, which is not only carrying out a genocidal campaign according to several international human rights organizations, including a United Nations Special Committee and Amnesty International, but is and has been destroying ecosystems, watersheds, energy infrastructure and exacerbating climate change for decades,” the group wrote.
Biden has notably rejected the group’s genocide claims as unfounded.
The career staff also chastised the Biden administration for allegedly prioritizing military aid to Israel over “environmental and climate justice work.”
“We are horrified by the billions of taxpayers’ dollars being diverted overseas to fund Israel’s military campaign while crucial needs of people in this country go unaddressed,” the group wrote. “The ongoing siege on Gaza directly impacts our efforts to combat climate change and protect the environment.”
The government employees’ anti-Israel advocacy follows several Biden officials resigning since October 7th over the administration’s policies toward Israel and the war in Gaza.
The White House, EPA and DOE did not respond to the DCNF’s multiple requests for comment.
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