- The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted summary judgment for a group of 18 Democratic AGs—along with the Governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky—in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in which they sought to block a DOE policy capping funding for state-run energy programs’ indirect costs and fringe benefits.
- We previously reported on the initiation of this lawsuit, in which the states argued that administrative and staffing costs have historically been uncapped, that the DOE policy violated federal regulations regarding pre-negotiated indirect cost rates, and that the rulemaking violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
- In a ruling from the bench, the court agreed with states, finding that the policy was inconsistent with reimbursement regulations for DOE grants and that the agency issued the policy in violation of the APA.
- The ruling permanently blocks DOE from enforcing the cap.