USDA Ordered to Restore Terminated Grants to Farmers, Nonprofits

The US Department of Agriculture must restore grants to several farmers and nonprofits after a federal court ruled Thursday that the agency and the Department of Government Efficiency “flout Congress’s mandates” through mass terminations without proper review.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction to restore six grants awarded under the Biden administration, stating the agency’s termination letters “offered only vague and conclusory reasoning with no consideration of reliance interests,” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Groups including the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Agroecology Commons will see their grants restored, but plaintiffs “have not made the requisite showings” to enjoin the hundreds of awards at issue in the case, Judge Beryl A. Howell said.

The court order is the latest to restore funding canceled under DOGE-led efforts to cut agencies’ costs. Cities including Nashville and Baltimore won a preliminary injunction in May to access millions of dollars in funds appropriated under Biden’s landmark infrastructure laws.

The government argued the groups’ case belonged in the US Court of Federal Claims. Howell ruled the case centered on the notice requirements outlined under the APA and the separation of powers structure of the Constitution because Congress directed the climate change initiatives funded by these grants. As a result, plaintiffs claims aren’t contractual, so jurisdiction doesn’t lie with the Federal Claims court.

Such programs include ones directed under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Cooperative Forestry Act, and the USDA can’t justify terminating what Secretary Brooke Rollins called “woke DEI propaganda” given lawmakers’ intent.

The USDA and DOGE terminated the grant because it supports groups “that have historically faced discrimination,” but Congress provided “explicit instruction for funding to be used to support such ‘underserved’ groups,” Howell said.

The plaintiffs are represented by Earthjustice, Farmers Justice Center, and FarmSTAND.

The case isUrb. Sustainability Dirs. Network v. US Dep’t of Agric., D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-01775, preliminary injunction 8/14/25.