California sues Trump administration over withheld funds for EV chargers

California is joining 16 other states in a federal lawsuit to force the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funds for electric vehicle chargers approved by former President Joe Biden’s hallmark infrastructure law.

“Alongside 16 attorneys general, I’m suing the Federal Highway Administration for their efforts to thwart Congress’s $5 billion program to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the nation,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Wednesday at an electric vehicle charging station in Burlingame.

“The Federal Highway Administration’s unlawful action could cost California specifically more than $300 million, eliminate thousands of good paying jobs and damage a critical, emerging industry,” he said.

According to Bonta, a Democrat who has pledged to challenge President Donald Trump in court every time the Republican steps outside the law, California stands to receive the millions of dollars in funds for the construction of charging stations through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program. That’s a component of Biden’s 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Trump’s administration has refused to release the funds, Bonta said.

The lawsuit — the 19th legal challenge filed by California against Trump’s federal government — argues that the Federal Highway Administration is shirking its legal responsibility to allocate the funds that were approved by Congress.

“President Trump’s illegal action withholding funds for electric vehicle infrastructure is yet another Trump gift to China – ceding American innovation and killing thousands of jobs,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, said in a statement.

The other states that have joined the lawsuit are: Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.