By banning the Department of Transportation from releasing previously approved National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funds, Trump is again violating the Constitution while putting his Big Oil donors’ interests above those of the American people 

Washington, D.C.—Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), led all Democratic members of the Committee in demanding answers from Secretary of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy about the abrupt cutoff of funds for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.  The NEVI program—included in the bipartisan infrastructure law—provides funding directly to states for installing public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, which, if implemented, will lower fuel costs for families, reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, and create construction jobs nationwide.  In a memo to state departments of transportation, the Federal Highway Administration announced states will no longer have access to $3 billion in previously approved federal funds for future construction projects.

“We write in strong opposition to your cutoff of funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.  This action shows blatant disrespect for the law and for constitutional order,” wrote Senators Whitehouse, Sanders, Merkley, Markey, Kelly, Padilla, Schiff, Blunt Rochester, and Alsobrooks in a letter to Secretary Duffy.  “Established in the bipartisan infrastructure law, the NEVI program provides funding for every state in the nation.”

The NEVI program invests in states to accelerate the nationwide buildout of public EV charging infrastructure.  States have already awarded more than $510 million in NEVI funding to construct charging ports, with more contracts ready to move forward.  By pulling this funding, the Trump administration is jeopardizing planned construction that could establish charging stations every 50 miles along 70 percent of major travel corridors by the end of 2055.  Expanding access to reliable chargers will give Americans more choices in vehicles by making clean energy options more practical and by reducing dependence on expensive, dirty fossil-fueled cars.  If implemented, NEVI investments will help curb the carbon pollution driving climate change, which itself poses an increasing threat to the U.S. economy and to American families in the form of higher prices for groceries, insurance, and more.

“All 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico invested time and resources to prepare their plans, and all plans were approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Your abrupt cutoff of NEVI funding disregards these efforts and subjects states and their partners to delay, uncertainty, and bureaucratic red tape.  It also threatens the jobs, innovation, and environmental benefits that this program was ready and authorized to deliver through implementation,” wrote the Senators. 

The NEVI program aims to install fast-charging stations on all designated highways so that recharging is available every 50 miles.  Canceling this funding would leave many families, particularly in rural communities, without access to affordable EV chargers.

Not only does cutting off NEVI funding increase families’ fuel costs, reduce Americans’ transportation choices, and increase carbon pollution, but it also violates the Constitution.  In just the first three weeks of his lawless Administration, President Trump has displayed a dangerous pattern of usurping congressional authority and ignoring the judicial branch in pursuit of his pro-polluter agenda.

“Unfortunately, your refusal to release NEVI funds to states is part of a larger, ongoing pattern by the Trump Administration of subverting the Constitution’s dedication to Congress of authority over federal spending.  As sweeping and vague as recent Executive Orders may be in expressing the administration’s policy preferences, they do not provide license under the Constitution to cut off funding for programs authorized and funded by Congress and enacted into law, and upon which our sovereign states have justifiably relied,” concluded the Senators, as they demanded Trump follow the law and allow states to access the congressionally appropriated funding.

The Senators requested documents and information by February 18, 2025, and an immediate reinstatement of NEVI funding.

The text of the letter is below, and a full version is available here.

Dear Secretary Duffy,

We write in strong opposition to your cutoff of funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.  This action shows blatant disrespect for the law and for constitutional order.  

Established in the bipartisan infrastructure law, the NEVI program provides funding for every state in the nation.  As a condition for using this funding, the Biden Administration required each state department of transportation to submit for approval an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan—a responsible step to encourage states to think carefully about how they spend their funds under this program.  All 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico invested time and resources to prepare their plans, and all plans were approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.  Your abrupt cutoff of NEVI funding disregards these efforts and subjects states and their partners to delay, uncertainty, and bureaucratic red tape.  It also threatens the jobs, innovation, and environmental benefits that this program was ready and authorized to deliver through implementation.

Unfortunately, your refusal to release NEVI funds to states is part of a larger, ongoing pattern by the Trump Administration of subverting the Constitution’s delegation to Congress of authority over federal spending.  As sweeping and vague as recent Executive Orders may be in expressing the administration’s policy preferences, they do not provide license under the Constitution to cut off funding for programs authorized and funded by Congress and enacted into law, and upon which our sovereign states have justifiably relied.  

For these reasons, we urge you to retract your February 6 letter and to implement the law according to your responsibilities.  In addition, in order to assist us in understanding how and why you reached this decision hastily and in blatant disregard of the law, please respond to the following questions and requests for production of documents by no later than February 18, 2025:

1. On what legal grounds does the Department of Transportation (DOT) believe it has the authority to cancel all funding nationwide for the NEVI program?  Please cite to specific statutory or regulatory authority that permits DOT to cancel such a Congressionally-authorized appropriation.  We note that executive orders do not qualify as such statutory or regulatory authority, as they are neither statutes nor regulations.
2. Did any individual or office within the White House, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), or the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” specifically instruct you to cancel funding for the NEVI program?  If so, who did?
3. Please provide all emails dated November 5, 2024, through February 6, 2025, among and between you, DOT officials, the Trump-Vance Transition Team, the White House, Elon Musk, anyone working for or affiliated with the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” Russell Vought, and Office of Management and Budget officials—including but not limited to all “special government employees”—concerning the NEVI program.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.