17 states led by Washington, Colorado, and California have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to freeze approximately $5 billion in federal funding designated for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle on May 7, 2025, challenges the Federal Highway Administration’s February 6 decision to “suspend” all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan approvals and withhold National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program funds.
According to court documents, the FHWA revoked approvals for state plans that had already been authorized and prohibited new spending obligations, effectively blocking access to billions in congressionally-mandated funding. The states argue this action directly violates the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) passed in 2021.
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“The President continues his unconstitutional attempts to withhold funding that Congress appropriated to programs he dislikes,” said Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, in a statement. “This time he’s illegally stripping away billions of dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.”
The lawsuit claims the administration’s actions stem from a January 20 executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which directed federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” for EV charging stations provided through the NEVI program.
The coalition includes Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Collectively, these states have been denied access to approximately $1 billion in available NEVI funds that Congress expressly allocated for building out EV charging networks.
The states are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to release the frozen funds and resume the program as authorized by Congress.
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