Judges orders Trump to unfreeze EV charging infrastructure funds

UPI

4 days ago

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must unfreeze funds Congress previously allocated for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI | License Photo
June 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump and his administration to release billions of Congress-approved dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that they froze shortly after returning to the White House.
In her 66-page ruling Tuesday, Judge Tana Lin in Seattle found that President Donald Trump violated the separation-of-powers doctrine enshrined in the Constitution and overextended executive authority when he halted the distribution of funds earmarked to expand the United States' EV charging network.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed in early May by 16 states and the District of Columbia. However, Lin, a President Joe Biden appointee, only awarded a partial preliminary injunction, ordering the Trump administration to disburse the money to 14 of the states. D.C., Minnesota and Vermont did not provide sufficient evidence demonstrating "the irreparable harm that would befall them absent injunctive relief."
"Although these three Plaintiffs, like the other established sufficient injury to satisfy the ripeness requirement ... they have not provided any testimony, beyond what is alleged in the complaint, that demonstrates, say, a delayed or canceled project, a budget thrown into chaos or a withdrawn request for proposals," she wrote.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order titled Unleashing American Energy that directed federal agencies to pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through Biden's $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including funds for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program.
In early February, the Department of Transportation, directed under the executive order, rescinded guidance for the NEVI Formula Program and indefinitely suspended the approval of all current and future state EV infrastructure deployment plans.
The states filed their lawsuit, accusing the Trump administration of not only illegally withholding the funds but also that doing so would inflict harm. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the freezing of the funds would cost the state more than $300 million while eliminating thousands of jobs.
"The administration cannot dismiss programs illegally, like the bipartisan Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, just so that the President's Big Oil friends can continue basking in record-breaking profits," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Tuesday in response to Lin's ruling.
"We are pleased with today's order blocking the Administration's unconstitutional attempt to do so, and California looks forward to continuing to vigorously defend itself from this executive branch overreach."
Lin's preliminary injunction will go into effect July 2 unless the Trump administration appeals.