U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Defense Medal in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec. 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
Sixteen states and theDistrict of Columbiaare suing theTrumpadministration for what they say is the unlawful withholding of over$2 billionin funding for two electric vehicle charging programs.
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday inSeattleis thelatest legal battlethat Democratic-led states are pursuing over funding forEV charging infrastructurethat they say was obligated to them byCongressunder former PresidentJoe Biden, but that theDepartment of TransportationandFederal Highway Administrationare “impounding.”
“TheTrumpadministration’s illegal attempt to stop funding for electric vehicle infrastructure must come to an end,”CaliforniaAttorney GeneralRob Bontasaid in a release. “This is just another reckless attempt that will stall the fight against air pollution and climate change, slow innovation, thwart green job creation, and leave communities without access to clean, affordable transportation.”
PresidentDonaldTrump‘sadministration has beenhostile to EVsand has dismantled several Biden-era policies friendly to cleaner cars and trucks in favor of policies that align withTrump’soil and gas industry agenda.
Transportation Departmentofficials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
TheTrumpadministration in February ordered states to halt spending money forEV chargingthat was allocated in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed under the previous administration.
An electric vehicle charging location is shown from the view of a drone in Carlsbad, California, U.S., May 14, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Several states filed alawsuit in Mayagainst the administration for withholding the funding from the$5 billionNational Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program for a nationwide charging buildout. Afederal judge later ordered the administrationto release much of the funding for chargers in more than a dozen states.
Transportation SecretarySean Duffylater issued revised guidance intended to streamline funding applications for states and make charger deployment more efficient. At least four states —Georgia,Illinois,Maryland, andWisconsin— have announced awards under the vehicle infrastructure program, according toLoren McDonald, chief analyst at EV data firm Chargeonomics, who tracks the state awards.
Tuesday’s separate lawsuit, filed in theU.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, addresses withholding of funds for two other programs:$1.8 billionfor the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant program, as well as about$350 millionfor the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator program.
The lawsuit is led by attorneys general fromCaliforniaandColorado, joined by the attorneys general ofArizona,Delaware,Illinois,Maryland,Massachusetts,Michigan,New Jersey,New York,Oregon,Rhode Island,Vermont,Washington,Wisconsinand theDistrict of Columbia, and the governor ofPennsylvania. All areDemocrats.
After returning to office in January,Trumpimmediatelyordered an endto what he has called Biden’s “EV mandate.” While Biden targeted forhalf of new vehicle salesin theU.S.to be electric by 2030, his policies did not force American consumers to buy EVs or automakers to sell them.
Biden did set stringent tailpipe emissions and fuel economy rules in an effort to encourage more widespread EV adoption, as the auto industry would have had to meet both sets of requirements with a greater number of EVs in their sales mix. Under the Biden administration, consumers could also receive up to$7,500in tax incentivesoff the price of an EV purchase, a program thatcongressionalRepublicansendedlast fall.
TheTrumpadministration has proposed rolling backboth tailpipe emissions rulesand thegas mileage standardsand eliminated fines to automakers for not meeting those standards.
Trumphas also repeated incorrect information about the status of the federal charging programs; without all of the funds available, only a fraction of what was obligated has been spent so far.
“We had to have an electric car within a very short period of time, even though there was no way of charging them and lots of other things,”Trumpsaid in aDec. 3press conference about the proposed weakened fuel economy rules. “In certain parts of the Midwest, they spent — to build nine chargers they spent$8 billion. So, that wasn’t working out too well.”
The lawsuit comes amid those regulatory changes and as the pace of EV sales have slowed in theU.S.as mainstream buyers remain concerned about both charging availability and the price of the vehicles.
New EVs sold for an average of$58,638last month, compared with$49,814for a new vehicle overall, according to auto buying resourceKelley Blue Book.
Automakers, meanwhile, have responded to consumers accordingly.
Earlier this week,Ford Motor Co.announcedit was pivoting awayfrom its once-ambitious, multi-billion dollar electrification strategy in lieu of more hybrid-electric and more fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicles.
In the spring,Honda Motor Co.also said it wouldtake a significant step backfrom its EV efforts.
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