US District Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Withholding EV Charger Funds
A Seattle-based judge, Tana Lin, has granted a partial injunction to 14 states that sued the Trump administration over its decision to withhold funds awarded for electric vehicle charger infrastructure. The ruling, which applies to states including California, Colorado, and Washington, is likely to succeed, according to the judge. The injunction will take effect on July 1, unless the Trump administration appeals against it.
In February, the Trump administration ordered a halt in spending $5 billion of funds allocated under the Biden administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. The program provided financial support for up to 80% of eligible project costs to deploy electric vehicle chargers. Currently, 16 states have operational EV stations, as per the EV States Clearinghouse.
The Department of Transportation under the new leadership decided to review the policies of the NEVI program, suspending approval for all state EV infrastructure deployment plans. This led to an immediate freeze on new obligations under the NEVI program until updated guidance was issued and new state plans were submitted and approved.
In May, the Government Accountability Office ruled that the Trump administration had violated the law by withholding the funding, stating that the “must continue to carry out the statutory requirements of the program.” The White House challenged this, calling the findings “wrong and legally indefensible” and ordering the transportation department to ignore them.
During a hearing, Washington’s attorney general’s office argued that the “passing reference to revised guidance” was not sufficient to override congressional intent. They added that the states are not challenging the ability to revise guidance but are arguing that this alone is not a valid reason for the actions taken.
In contrast, the justice department attorney claimed that the agency has no intent to withhold funds from the states, only seeking the opportunity to review past guidance and to create new guidance in line with the current administration’s policies and priorities.
Despite Trump’s previous vocal disapproval of electric vehicles, which contradicted his relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it appears that his administration’s decision to withhold funds might be facing significant legal hurdles.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/24/judge-trump-ev-chargers
