Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) unveiled legislation that would short circuit the failed $7.5 billion electric vehicle program instituted by President Joe Biden, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
Ernst proposed the Unplug the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Programs Act to end Biden’s failed electric vehicle charging program from the so-called infrastructure bill, formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The program, despite its lofty goal of creating a network of charging stations across the nation, only built 59 stations in three years despite $7.5 billion in funding.
“Joe Biden’s green dreams short-circuited, and it is time to pull the plug,” Ernst said in a statement to Breitbart News. “The EV charger boondoggle is a textbook example of waste and inefficiency that needs to be eliminated. Instead of spending hundreds of millions per charging station, I am doing something truly revolutionary in Washington – putting taxpayers first.”
Ernst, as the Senate DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] chair, unveiled a $2 trillion plan, which includes the bill to scrap the funding for electric vehicles, to slash federal spending and reduce the size of the federal government.
The Trump administration in early February had halted the program.
“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program. Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded,” Emily Biondi, the associate administrator for the Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty, in a letter to the state Department of Transportation directors said.
“As result of the rescission of the NEVI Formula Program Guidance, FHWA is also immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years. Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved,” the official continued.
In May, Buttigieg was asked by CBS News’s Face the Nation to explain why only eight of the promised EV stations had been built:
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
