Gov. Josh Shapiro says the state once again has access to more than $2 billion of federal money that had been frozen last month by the Trump administration.
The announcement Monday comes days after Shapiro attended an event last week at the White House. Shapiro said that while there, he urged senior Trump officials to “follow the law and honor their agreements,” though he did not share specifics about the conversations.
“To put it simply, a deal is a deal,” Shapiro said. “The Trump administration is legally required to provide these funds to Pennsylvania. That is why I took legal action to protect Pennsylvanians.”
On Feb. 13, Shapiro filed a lawsuit over the suspended money which was slated to be spent on green energy and environmental projects, including abandoned mine cleanup and capping old gas wells. Some projects were temporarily halted, and Shapiro said many of them were meant to help rural communities.
“Several ongoing projects in the western part of the Commonwealth employing dozens of Pennsylvanians were forced to stop work,” Shapiro told reporters. “These folks can now get back on the job knowing that I will continue to have their backs.”
Over 140,000 acres of abandoned mine land still needs remediation to avoid and “prevent another tragedy like we had in Westmoreland County” when a woman died after falling into a sinkhole, he added.
The lawsuit appears to still be active, and Shapiro said that despite the return of funding, “We will continue to press our case.”
Manuel Bonder, a Shapiro spokesman, said that notwithstanding the White House’s promise, the lawsuit still stands: “[The suit] will move forward until we obtain a final judgment or binding agreement requiring the Trump Administration to comply with its legal obligations."
Shapiro took the lead on the lawsuit, though such matters are ordinarily handled by the state’s Attorney General. That job is held by recently installed Republican Dave Sunday, who did not participate in the suit. Asked about the arrangement, Shapiro did not answer directly, but said he and Sunday work well together. In other states, 22 attorneys general – all Democrats – had sued to reverse Trump's funding freeze last month.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia, which represents the federal agencies named in the lawsuit, did not immediately comment on Monday.
In federal court in Rhode Island, however, Trump administration lawyers have argued that the government’s move to freeze funds was legal and asked a judge to reject a request by nearly two dozen Democratic states for a preliminary injunction.
Administration lawyers characterized the freeze as simply a “pause” to consider how best to use federal funds. They contended the case was moot since the Office of Management and Budget had rescinded its memo in late January freezing federal grants and loans.
Much of the stalled grant funding identified by Shapiro’s administration was passed by Congress in signature laws signed by former President Joe Biden, including his landmark 2022 climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and his 2021 infrastructure law.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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