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A federal court has ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to stop withholding funds from a $5 billion program intended to build a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. The ruling, issued on June 24, 2025, grants a preliminary injunction in favor of 14 states that sued the federal government, arguing that the administration unlawfully froze funds appropriated by Congress.
The court found that the states were likely to succeed in their claim that the administration overstepped its authority and that the funding freeze was causing immediate and irreparable harm to their clean energy and transportation projects.
Key Highlights
- A preliminary injunction was granted to 14 states, including Washington, California, and New York, ordering the government to release access to funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.
- The court found the executive branch’s decision to “pause” the program likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the constitutional separation of powers.
- The government’s actions were described as arbitrary and capricious for failing to provide adequate reasoning or consider the significant impact on state programs that relied on the federal funding.
- The court determined the funding freeze caused irreparable harm, including disrupting construction projects, damaging private-sector partnerships, and creating major budgetary uncertainty for the states.
- The injunction restores the states’ previously approved EV Infrastructure Deployment Plans to their legal status before the federal government suspended the program.
Background of the Dispute
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program was created by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which appropriated $5 billion to help states build a reliable network of EV chargers. States began implementing their plans, dedicating resources, and forming private partnerships in reliance on these funds.
However, in January 2025, a new executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy” directed all federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” from the IIJA, specifically naming the NEVI program. Shortly after, on February 6, 2025, the FHWA issued a letter that officially suspended the program by rescinding all previous guidance and revoking the states’ approved deployment plans.
In response, 16 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit, arguing that the administration had illegally refused to distribute funds that Congress had lawfully appropriated for a specific purpose.
The Court’s Decisive Ruling
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington sided with the states on several key legal arguments.
Exceeding Statutory and Constitutional Authority The court found that the executive branch had overstepped its constitutional authority. The IIJA statute provides a clear command to distribute the funds and only allows the Secretary of Transportation to withhold them under very specific, limited circumstances, which were not met here. The court concluded that the administration could not unilaterally halt the program to impose its own policy preferences, calling the move an infringement on the separation of powers and Congress’s exclusive power of the purse.
An Arbitrary and Capricious Action The court also determined that the government’s action was likely arbitrary and capricious under the APA. The Biondi Letter, which announced the freeze, failed to provide a reasoned explanation for the decision, did not show consideration for the states’ “serious reliance interests,” and failed to explore any alternatives to a complete and indefinite shutdown of the program.
Irreparable Harm and Public Interest
The government argued that any harm was purely economic and could be fixed later by simply paying out the money. The court firmly rejected this view, stating that the harms were immediate and irreparable.
State officials provided extensive evidence that the funding freeze had:
- Halted construction projects already underway.
- Forced the cancellation of grant solicitations and delayed project pipelines.
- Caused private partners and site hosts to back out of agreements, jeopardizing the viability of planned charging stations.
- Created significant budgetary chaos and forced states to divert staff and resources.
The court concluded that the public interest and the balance of equities tipped sharply in favor of the states. It noted that there is no legitimate public interest in allowing the government to violate federal law.
The preliminary injunction applies to the 14 states that submitted detailed evidence of harm: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. The request was denied for the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and Vermont because they did not provide sufficient evidence of irreparable harm beyond the initial complaint. The court stayed its order for seven days to allow the federal government to decide whether to appeal.
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