Rewiring America, a climate advocacy group where Democratic activist Stacey Abrams once held the position of senior counsel, discreetly secured over $5 million in federal climate funding just before the Trump administration terminated a Biden-era grant earlier this year, as revealed by tax documents examined by the Washington Free Beacon.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the $5 million represented the first installment of a $2 billion grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2024 to Power Forward Communities, a group overseeing a coalition led by Rewiring America. When a February report by the Free Beacon exposed Power Forward Communities' connections to Abrams, prompting EPA administrator Lee Zeldin to revoke the grant, Abrams contended that she had no ties to the group and played a minimal role in securing the grant.
The tax documents, however, challenge Abrams's assertions. They indicate that of the $9.5 million received by Power Forward Communities from the EPA by the end of 2024, more than half was allocated to Abrams's Rewiring America. Power Forward Communities reported that the grant funding was its only revenue source last year, suggesting it functioned as a conduit to channel taxpayer funds to Rewiring America.
The funds were distributed to Rewiring America while Abrams served as its senior counsel and senior adviser, a position she held from March 2023 to early 2025.
During this period, Ian Magruder, the group's director of partnerships, stated that Abrams "played a pivotal role" in obtaining the EPA grant. However, Power Forward Communities portrayed its association with Rewiring Americaand Abramsdifferently when it filed a lawsuit against the EPA over Zeldin's grant cancellation.
"Power Forward Communities has no relationship with Ms. Abrams, other than the fact that she's one of the people who have advised one of our coalition members in the past," Power Forward Communities CEO Timothy Mayopoulos told Politico. In its legal challenge to the EPA's decision to cancel the grant, Power Forward Communities described its connection with Abrams as "alleged."
Zeldin remarked that the newly disclosed tax forms demonstrate that the Biden administration's decision to allocate billions to Power Forward Communities was politically motivated. "This revelation is the latest egregious example (on top of so many we've found) of how, in rushing $20 billion out the door before President Trump took office, the Biden EPA doled out hard-earned tax dollars to unqualified recipients riddled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, while intentionally reducing agency oversight," Zeldin told the Free Beacon in a statement.
The funds allocated to Rewiring America far exceeded the amounts disbursed to other coalition members: Local Initiatives Support received $244,756, United Way Worldwide received $145,013, Enterprise Green Accelerator received $73,866, and Habitat for Humanity International received nothing.
In addition to payments to coalition members, Power Forward Communities reported spending $2.2 million of the EPA grant on unspecified expenses, $726,818 on salaries for executives and staff, and $310,500 on recruitment, among other costs. The filings indicate that Mayopoulos received $206,250 for working 20 hours per week.
Mayopoulos also received an additional $181,121 from Rewiring America for consulting services, further highlighting the close relationship between the two entities. "Every single penny given to this Stacey Abrams-connected NGO last year was either sent to another pass-through entity or used to pay the salaries of its well-connected top officials," Zeldin said.
"This is the same organization that earned only $100 in 2023 but was handed $2 BILLION in 2024 by the Biden EPA," he continued. "I proudly terminated this grant and all others in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in March, and since then Congress repealed the program entirely. At the Trump EPA, we will always be exceptional stewards of tax dollars, with a zero tolerance policy towards any waste or abuse."
Power Forward Communities, Rewiring America, and a spokesperson for Abrams did not respond to requests for comment. As Abrams reemerges in the public sphere, she recently participated in a No Kings rally in Atlanta and a discussion on defending democracy at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, where she described the Trump administration as an "authoritarian regime."
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