Court restores grants for Earthjustice clients 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday issued an order granting the restoration of six Agriculture Department grants for farmers and communities.The order, issued following a motion for preliminary injunction, was in response to a June 5 lawsuit alleging that after several Trump administration executive orders, and at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other officials “began engaging in a policy, pattern, and practice of unlawfully terminating federal grant awards,” including those awarded to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs — Agroecology Commons, Oakville Bluegrass Collective, Providence Farm Collective Corp. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network — alleged that USDA’s grant terminations were arbitrary and capricious, and for some terminations, also contrary to law, all in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, among other claims.The plaintiff groups were represented by Earthjustice, Farmers Justice Center, and FarmSTAND.

“The court’s granting of the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is the only appropriate response to DOGE and USDA’s illegal and destructive grant cancelation,” said David Muraskin, who is managing director for litigation at FarmSTAND and argued for the motion in court.”As a result of today’s ruling, the plaintiffs in this case will be able to support a habitable climate, fair food system, and healthy nation for all again.”

–The Hagstrom Report