Over a dozen states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over frozen funds for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, and sees 16 states, the District of Columbia, and Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania challenging the U.S. Department of Transportation. This is all in regards to a nearly year-long battle over money that was previously allocated by Congress to strengthen the infrastructure needed to support EV.
What happened with EV chargers?
Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended funding for EV charging infrastructure, despite the funds already being approved by Congress during Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump has called this funding “an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Critics of the move claim that the president has no authority to simply cut off funding approved by a different branch of government, and the lawsuit alleges a gross overreach of power.
“The Trump Administration is unlawfully withholding funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — investments Congress approved to build America’s EV charging network, reduce pollution, and create thousands of good-paying jobs. We won’t stand for it,” California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
“California will defend the Constitution, our communities, and the future we’re building. With 2.4 million zero-emission vehicles on our roads and critical projects ready to move forward, we’re taking this to court.”
Another lawsuit
This is actually the second time states have come together to sue the current administration over freezing funding for EV infrastructure. The previous lawsuit was successful in forcing the $5 billion promised to states through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program to be released. The current lawsuit addresses two other EV programs withholding funds that total over $2 billion.
Responses to the announcement on X have overwhelmingly been blue-checks parroting back Trump’s claim that EV infrastructure is a waste of money or alleging that all lawmakers in blue states do is fight Trump’s decisions—none of which addresses the real legal concerns at play about the separation of power.
But are they a real reflection of how Americans feel about the matter? Or just another infestation of bots taking over social media? In this case, it doesn’t actually matter, since the outcome will be decided by the courts instead of Elon Musk’s pet platform.
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