Zeldin: $20 Billion in Biden EPA 'Gold Bars' Found 'Parked at an Outside Financial Institution' (February 12, 2025)

Three weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, his new Environmental Protection Agency chief said he had found the Biden administration’s “gold bars.” “An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a video posted to X on Feb. 12, 2025, Fox News reported [2].

“The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it,” Zeldin said [2].

The video above shows Zeldin’s announcement. Quotes are from the EPA, Fox News and GovInfo [1][2][3][4][5][6].

”Parked at an Outside Financial Institution”

The EPA put out Zeldin’s findings the next day. “Roughly twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA. This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history and it was purposefully designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight,” Zeldin said in the agency’s release [1].

The agency said Zeldin was “calling for termination of the financial agent agreement, and for the immediate return of the entire fund balance to the United States Treasury to ensure EPA oversight,” and that he would refer the matter to the inspector general and Congress [1].

Zeldin did not name the bank. He said “there is zero reason to suspect any wrongdoing by the bank,” Fox reported, but that the agreement “needs to be instantly terminated” [2].

”Boat Loads of Cash”

“One of my very top priorities at EPA is to be an excellent steward of your hard-earned tax dollars. There will be zero tolerance of any waste and abuse,” Zeldin said [1].

“We will review every penny that has gone out the door. The days of irresponsibly shoveling boat loads of cash to far-left, activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” he said [1].

“The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years,” Zeldin said in the video [2].

He ended it with a promise. “As President Trump has vowed, we’re going to usher in a new Golden Age of American success for the citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” Zeldin said [2].

The Biden-Harris Announcement

The $20 billion was announced the year before. “Today, April 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its selections for $20 billion in grant awards under two competitions within the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF),” the Biden EPA said in 2024 [3].

“Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will announce the selections under these two grant competitions in Charlotte, North Carolina,” the release said [3].

Eight groups were picked. Climate United Fund got a $6.97 billion award, the Coalition for Green Capital $5 billion and Power Forward Communities $2 billion. Five more groups shared $6 billion [3].

”$100 in Revenue”

A week after his video, Zeldin turned to one of the eight. “It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023, was chosen to receive $2 billion. That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue,” he told the Washington Free Beacon, in remarks the EPA republished [4].

“When we learned about the Biden Administration’s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency, we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this,” Zeldin said [4].

The EPA highlighted that the group, Power Forward Communities, was set to receive “$2 billion of the $20 billion gold bars” and was linked to Democrat Stacey Abrams [4].

“The story of the Biden EPA’s gold bars never stops,” Zeldin told the Free Beacon, as the EPA quoted it [4].

”His Former Employer”

The Wall Street Journal editorial board found more, in an editorial the EPA republished. “In one example, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund director Jahi Wise oversaw a $5 billion grant to his former employer, Coalition for Green Capital,” the Journal wrote [5].

“The Trump team’s effort to break up this spending racket has led to a court brawl, which could be educational,” the Journal wrote [5].

By the Numbers

$20 billion: in grants to eight groups, announced April 4, 2024 [3].
$27 billion: the total Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund [3].
$6.97 billion: the biggest award, to Climate United Fund [3].
$2 billion: to Power Forward Communities [3].
$100: the revenue Zeldin said that group reported in 2023 [4].

What Happened Next

Zeldin canceled the grants. In March 2025, the EPA said Zeldin “notified National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator recipients of the termination of their grant agreements under the Biden-Harris Administration’s $20 billion ‘gold bar’ scheme” [5].

“While the Biden EPA touted ‘tossing Gold Bars off the Titanic,’ these terminated grants, riddled with self-dealing and wasteful spending, are now frozen by court order,” Zeldin said. “I will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are returned to the U.S. Treasury.” [5]

Congress repealed the fund. On July 4, 2025, Trump signed Public Law 119-21. Its Section 60002, “Repeal of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” says: “Section 134 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7434) is repealed and the unobligated balances of amounts made available to carry out that section (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act) are rescinded.” [6]

For John Podesta on the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate cost, see HYGO News’ page on Aug. 16, 2023. For Trump on halting the hiring of new IRS agents, see the page on Jan. 25, 2025.