House subcommittee renews scrutiny of EPA climate grants after witnesses cite $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awards

Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene opened a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on "delivering on government efficiency," saying the hearing would "bring transparency to the American people" on what she called abuses of taxpayer funding through nongovernmental organizations.

The committee’s central allegation focused on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which Chairwoman Greene described as "a $20,000,000,000 slush fund" that she said steered "billions in US tax dollars to leftist climate NGOs." Greene cited awards to newly formed groups, singling out Power Forward Communities as an example that reported $100 in revenue in fiscal 2023 yet was slated to receive a $2,000,000,000 award under the GGRF.

Why it matters: Republicans framed the grants as an example of taxpayer money flowing to politically connected groups without adequate safeguards. Witnesses who support that view said the scale of the awards and the speed with which some groups were created to receive funds warrant congressional oversight. Nonprofit advocates countered that many charities partner with government to deliver services and that threats to tax-exempt status or broad cuts would harm local programs.

Key claims and testimony

- Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (chairing the subcommittee) said: "The Biden EPA steered billions in US tax dollars to leftist climate NGOs via a $20,000,000,000 slush fund known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, GGRF." She characterized some awardees as newly created organizations that lacked track records.

- Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power the Future, testified that the Inflation Reduction Act and subsequent agency actions created opportunities for the rapid distribution of very large sums. Turner said, referring to EPA staffing, that a staffer moved from a group called Coalition for Green Capital into an EPA role that directed "$27,000,000,000 in green funding," and he described cases where organizations with minimal prior activity applied for and won large awards.

- Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, testified about broad patterns of nonprofits receiving significant shares of revenue from government, calling some organizations "basically government organizations" because of their dependence on federal grants and contracts.

- Committee members repeatedly referenced public reporting that Power Forward Communities had minimal 2023 revenue yet was listed in award documents as a proposed GGRF recipient. Committee members said portions of the funding were later held or routed through financial institutions amid litigation and investigation. Committee members also said Republican staff will pursue rescissions of specific awards.

Nonprofit response

- Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, told the subcommittee that most U.S. charitable nonprofits are small, local, and provide direct services. She said "Nonprofits are local, accountable, transparent, and are nonpartisan by law and in practice," and warned that aggressive targeting of nonprofit tax-exempt status or sweeping funding cuts would harm community services.

Context and limits of the record

- Witnesses on both sides offered figures and examples drawn from public filings and reporting. Committee members and witnesses sometimes framed numbers (for example, award amounts and revenue lines) as evidence of improper process; nonprofit witnesses and some news accounts noted that investigations had found little evidence of criminality in some EPA grant reviews.

- Several witnesses, including Turner and Walter, urged additional transparency and oversight; Yentel and other nonprofit advocates urged caution about broad punitive steps that could disrupt services.

What the committee will do next

The hearing record included sworn testimony and committee members said staff will continue oversight steps, including document requests and potential rescission legislation. No formal votes or final committee actions were recorded at the hearing.

Ending: The GOP members framed the hearing as part of a broader effort to strip federal funding from politically connected nonprofit actors and to require greater transparency for large agency grant programs. Nonprofit leaders said oversight should not become a pretext for unlawful or partisan attacks that would reduce services to vulnerable communities.