Rep. Summer Lee Hosts Roundtable with Senator Markey, Lawyers for Good Government to Fight Back Against Trump Admin’s Termination of Environmental Justice Grants
**For Immediate Release**
Rep. Summer Lee Hosts Roundtable with Senator Markey, Lawyers for Good Government to Fight Back Against Trump Admin’s Termination of Environmental Justice Grants
WASHINGTON, D.C.– May 8, 2025 – Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) joined Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Lawyers for Good Government to host a virtual roundtable in response to the Trump administration’s sweeping cancellation of nearly 800 environmental justice (EJ) grants. The cuts include all grants previously administered under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights—vital funding that supports frontline and underserved communities, including many across Western Pennsylvania.
Congresswoman Lee and Senator Markey convened the roundtable to elevate the voices of those most directly impacted by the administration’s harmful decision, including grant recipients, legal advocates, and community-based environmental justice leaders.
“What we’re witnessing with the Trump administration’s reckless and targeted cuts to environmental justice funding is nothing short of cruel and deliberate,” said Congresswoman Summer Lee. “These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet — these are real people, real families, and real communities being told they don’t matter. In places like Western Pennsylvania, we’ve already seen the human cost: frontline organizations shut down, clean air initiatives stalled, job training frozen, and our most vulnerable neighbors left without the tools they need to protect their health and their futures. These cuts are an attack on our kids, our workers, our elders, and on basic human dignity, and we will continue working to stop them.”
“The Trump administration revoking federal dollars from community-based groups working hard to clean up the air, water, and land where they live, work, and play is yet another injustice in a long line of unjust policies that deemed certain neighborhoods undeserving of equal environmental protection,” said Senator Markey. “I am inspired by the environmental justice grant recipients who, rather than despair and give in to defeat, joined us and courageously shared their stories of the harm, chaos, and uncertainty that the Trump administration has inflicted by undercutting environmental justice at every turn and every level. Their testimony shone a spotlight on Trump’s shameful abandonment of overburdened communities, and reminds us that strengthening our solidarity, growing coalitions, sharing our stories, and charting paths forward together are powerful antidotes.”
Legal experts and environmental justice leaders echoed Congresswoman Lee’s concerns. Jillian Blanchard of Lawyers for Good Government emphasized the group’s legal advocacy in response to the grant cancellations.
“Thank you to Senator Markey, Representative Lee, and the many environmental advocates and grantees for their leadership and courage in fighting back against these unlawful attacks on climate and environmental justice funding,” said Jillian Blanchard, Vice President of the Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program at Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG). “At L4GG, we’re proud to be helping grantees assert their legal rights, navigate this confusing landscape, and push back against these attacks through our Fund Protection Clinic. We know the law is on our side, and we have already won significant victories in the courts to block these unjust terminations. We will continue to fight for impacted communities until these critical funds are fully restored and every grantee is able to do the work Congress intended—building a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable future, for all.”
Speakers from across the country underscored the devastating impact of the funding cuts. Community leaders shared how their neighborhoods are being left behind at a time of intensifying climate risks and widening health disparities.
BACKGROUND:
In January, the Trump administration began halting all environmental justice funding. Since then, grantees across the country — including in Pennsylvania — have been blindsided by termination notices or denied access to their awarded funds. Many recipients have been left in financial limbo, expected to continue critical health and environmental projects without any assurance of reimbursement. The administration has also laid off EPA staff, creating further roadblocks for community groups seeking updates or guidance.
Congresswoman Summer Lee continues to work alongside Congressional allies, legal experts, and community organizers to hold the Trump administration accountable and protect communities who have long borne the brunt of pollution and environmental injustice.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.