Good morning,
I am attaching a district court's memorandum in support of its order granting a group of nonprofits' motion for a preliminary injunction, enjoining the federal government from withholding funds under the IRA and IIJA. The injunction is universal in scope (applies to nonparties). As relevant here, it: "2. ORDERED that Defendants Energy, EPA, HUD, Interior, and USDA are ENJOINED from freezing, halting, or pausing on a non-individualized basis the processing and payment of funding that (1) was appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and (2) has already been awarded; it is further 3. ORDERED that Defendants Energy, EPA, HUD, Interior, and USDA take immediate steps to resume the processing, disbursement, and payment of already-awarded funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and to release awarded funds previously withheld or rendered inaccessible;"
The court rejected the government's Tucker Act arguments, concluding that the "gravamen of the Nonprofits' allegations does not turn on terms of a contract between the parties; it turns on federal statute and regulations put in place by Congress and the agencies." And, in terms of the Tucker Act argument, the court found that the primary purpose of the suit was to seek equitable, rather than monetary relief as they are seeking to "preserve their ongoing and prospective agreements with the Government."
The court has an interesting discussion of the major questions doctrine in the merits analysis.
Thanks,
Amanda
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Amanda Karras (she/her)
Executive Director / General Counsel
International Municipal Lawyers Association
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