Senator Markey, Leader Schumer, Senators Whitehouse and Van Hollen Call for Answers from Citibank on Climate Bank Funding Freeze

Letter Text (PDF)
Washington (March 6, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and co-author of the originalNational Climate Bank Actwith Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee,together with Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today called for answers from Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, and Sunil Garg, CEO of Citibank North America (N.A.), on the reported freeze of federal investments made under the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA)—programs that are part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and held in Citibank N.A accounts. The affected accounts contain legally obligated federal funds appropriated in theInflation Reduction Actaimed at powering domestic investment in low-cost clean energy and energy efficiency. The freeze appears to relate to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s desire to claw back these grants. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, also signed the letter.
In the letter the lawmakers write, “If public reporting and information obtained by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats is accurate, the federal funds in these accounts have been frozen for more than two weeks without explanation from either Citibank or the EPA. Without access to these funds, grantees will be hard pressed to cover basic operating expenses, such as payroll or rent, much less satisfy their mission of delivering cost-saving investments in underserved communities across the country. According to recent reporting, a prolonged account freeze may drive many of the nonprofit grantees to bankruptcy or default.”
The lawmakers continued, “These reports suggest that Trump DOJ and EPA officials are trying to rescind the legally obligated funding at issue by fabricating claims of financial mismanagement and launching sham investigations.”
The lawmakers request responses by March 15, 2025, to questions that include:
On February 24, 2025, Senator Markey joined Senator Whitehouse and all Democratic members of the Environment and Public Works Committee in aletterto EPA demanding answers about Administrator Lee Zeldin’s illegal efforts to claw back these federal investments in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. On February 19, 2025, Senator Markey led aletterwith Senators Van Hollen, Whitehouse, and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to the Department of Justice regarding the forced resignation of the head of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, Denise Cheung, after she declined to pursue an unwarranted criminal investigation that would have frozen accounts with federal funds held at Citibank.
Senator Markey secured numerous provisions in theInflation Reduction Act, including the creation of a $27 billion national climate financing network based on hisNational Climate Bank Act.Following the passage of theInflation Reduction Actin 2022, Senators Markey and Van Hollen and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06), the House lead on the climate financing legislation,welcomedthe launch of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in April 2023.
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