Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico are among a handful of states filing lawsuits against the federal Department of Transportation for suspending an electric vehicle charging station initiative.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, charges that the DOT, acting upon the marching orders of President Trump, has illegally frozen funds for the stations, while also halting approvals for new stations in the planning process.
At issue is some $3 billion in electric vehicle charging station grants.
“The President’s illegal claw-backs aren’t spending resolutions, they’re cash grabs that rob taxpayers, steamroll Congress, and stifle critical economic development,” Nick Brown, the attorney general for the state of Washington, charged in a statement.
Brown added that the actions of the Transportation Department were taking place while residents of Washington state are “switching to electric vehicles at one of the highest rates in the nation. They deserve safe, reliable infrastructure to get their families from Point A to B.”
The states’ suit charges that the Transportation Department’s move will “devastate the ability of states to build the charging infrastructure necessary for making electric vehicles accessible to more consumers, combating climate change, reducing harmful pollution, and supporting the states’ green economies.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in response, said that Congress gave his department “the authority to issue program guidance and ensure money is being spent efficiently, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program was officially launched in 2021 and designed to provide funding to the states to “strategically deploy electric vehicle chargers.”
Funding under the program has been made available for up to 80% of project costs including the building and installation of electric vehicle chargers across the country, and both their operation and maintenance.
A press release from the DOT, however, asserts that roughly 84% of funds from the formula program have, to date, remained unobligated. The agency further charges that an overwhelming three-fourths of the states involved in the lawsuit have “failed to spend even a third of the funds they’ve received.”
It is not known when the U.S. District Court will hear the states’ case.
May 20, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
