Senator Ed Markey and other Democrats called for the agency to release grants halted by the Trump administration, following court orders to end the freeze.

The EPA's directive after a court ruling has still not yet unlocked all the funding mandated under the laws passed by Congress.

At a gathering at EPA headquarters, members of Congress and environmental advocates accused agency management of defying court orders, halting programs and failing to enforce environmental protections.

Democrats and activists are demanding answers about EPA programs allegedly suspended in the face of the Trump administration’s freeze on federal climate and infrastructure grants and crackdown on environmental justice initiatives.

Four congressional Democrats in senior positions on appropriations panels wrote to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin Thursday calling the Trump administration’s freeze on pre-appropriated EPA funds an illegal “gross dereliction of duty.