Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration over the elimination of $5 billion in funding for electric vehicle charging stations. The suit was filed in federal district court in Seattle, Washington.

The plaintiffs have also filed a motion for preliminary injunction which argues that in 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan law that created the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (“NEVI”) Formula Program. The Program authorized $5 billion in funding to states to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The states assert that Congress did not commit the funding for this Program to Executive Branch discretion; rather, it mandated that NEVI Formula Program funds be apportioned to states according to a statutory formula. But President Trump issued an executive order mandating all federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through . . . the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . . . including but not limited to funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure [NEVI] Formula Program.” In response to that EO, the Federal Highway Administration halted the Program and is refusing to consider applications for funding from the states.

On February 6, 2025, FHWA told states it had categorically halted the NEVI Formula Program. FHWA declared it had rescinded all NEVI Formula Program Guidance and immediately and unilaterally revoked its approval of all State Plans

The states argue that Congress set out a clear mandate for distribution of the funding and the new Administration does not have authority to restrict the use of funds based on a disagreement with the underlying policy of the program.