Columbus joins lawsuit after alleged DOGE freeze on tree program

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The City of Columbus has joined a federal lawsuit in anticipation of funding cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency for a grant that would pay for more than 1,000 trees planted in “historically Black neighborhoods.”

City Attorney Zach Klein announced in a news release that Columbus has spent $393,930 of a $500,000 urban forestry grant it expected the Recreation and Parks Department to reimburse by way of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The City sought the grant to “further expand its tree canopy through the purchase and plantings of approximately 1,250 diverse, large-class street trees in disadvantaged areas.”

“In Columbus, neighborhoods targeted for tree planting were data driven — the areas selected lacked trees compared to other parts of town,” Klein said. “Yet DOGE algorithms seem to have haphazardly targeted this important initiative that will lead to better health outcomes, air quality and home values for our residents simply because it was a historically Black neighborhood.”

Columbus is one of more than a dozen plaintiffs in the complaint filed in a federal court in South Carolina. The document names President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, DOGE and other government officials and agencies as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, the city became concerned that it would not receive the grant money on Feb. 18, when ODNR sent a letter to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. The letter stated that the U.S. Forestry Service was not processing Ohio's reimbursement requests and that the city should “temporarily suspend expenses against their grant, given the risk that expenses would not be reimbursed.”

However, after submitting a “Sub Awardee Request for Reimbursement(s)” to ODNR for $393,930, an ODNR email confirmed the grant was “approved for implementation” on March 13. The court filing reflects the city's fear that the federal government will “continue to turn this grant on and off and may well not ultimately reimburse the city for the full amount of eligible expenses.”

Despite the uncertainty of the City's request for compensation, the $500,000 USDA-originated grant does not appear on the DOGE website under its “grant terminations” dashboard. The U.S. government's official spending site also listed the grant as “in progress.”

On its website, ODNR is accepting 2025 applications for Ohio's Urban Forestry Grant Program, stating that the funding is a “follow up grant program to supplement the original grant program in 2024 to build upon executed awards and fund new projects.”

Columbus City Council documents reveal that on March 3, the Recreation and Parks Department once again received the go-ahead to “apply for grant funding from the … ODNR Urban Forestry Grant Program, which will be used to plant up to 250 street trees in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Columbus.”

“We will continue to make expanding our tree canopy a cornerstone of our environmental policies, not only to reduce energy usage, but to make healthier, equitable environments for residents in all of our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther.

The city said in the lawsuit that the money for the trees will have to come out of Columbus's capital budget if the grant money fails to materialize.

NBC4 has contacted ODNR and DOGE for an update on where the grant money stands.

Additionally, Green Columbus was also expecting $50,000 of federal funding through ODNR for trees planted at Columbus City Schools. Columbus City Council announced it will provide the organization $40,000 for its upcoming Earth Day efforts due to the reimbursement delay and Green Columbus having to “dip into its Earth Month funds.”