Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation
| | | |  | | By Arianna Skibell | | 
Electric vehicle chargers sit outside a Ford dealership in Broomfield, Colorado. | David Zalubowski/AP | Finding a roadside electric vehicle charger is about to get even harder. Donald Trump has set his anti-EV sights on a $5 billion initiative to develop a national network of electric vehicle chargers. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program was a cornerstone of former President Joe Biden’s plan to boost electric vehicles to combat climate change. The Transportation Department has instructed states to halt all spending of federal funds already allocated to them under the Biden administration program, writes James Bikales. The legally questionable move is sure to slow down, if not eviscerate, a program rollout that has already been plagued by bureaucratic delays. In a memo sent Thursday, department leadership said it needs time to bring the NEVI program into compliance with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s order to prioritize funding for communities that have high birth and marriage rates and for those that enforce federal immigration law, writes Mike Lee. The Federal Highway Administration letter specifies that while it is freezing new obligations, "reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments." The move raises questions of legality as NEVI funds are considered advance appropriations distributed by formula to states each fiscal year (i.e., they’re supposed to be a done deal). Two federal judges have already ordered the Trump administration to lift last week’s freeze on federal funding. States that were counting on federal funding to build out their charging networks are likely to sue. But the confusion is already causing widespread disruptions. At least six states — Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Rhode Island, Ohio and Nebraska — have put their NEVI programs on hold, James writes. Rhode Island and Ohio had been considered leading states in implementing the program. Other states have said they are continuing to seek clarity from federal officials before making changes to their programs.
| | | Thank goodness it's Friday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.
| | | | We’ve re-imagined and expanded our Inside Congress newsletter to give you unmatched reporting on Capitol Hill politics and policy -- and we'll get it to your inbox even earlier. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Annie Snider breaks down how the Trump administration is disrupting one of the most critical and bipartisan functions of government: providing clean, safe and affordable water.
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Protesters demonstrate their support for Trump at the Supreme Court in Washington on Dec. 11, 2020. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | SCOTUS rebuffs Trump
In a setback for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court has rejected requests to freeze proceedings in a set of pending cases, including one involving California’s long-standing authority to set strict tailpipe emissions for vehicles, write Lesley Clark and Niina H. Farah. The court, without elaborating, said it would deny the acting solicitor general’s request to pump the brakes on Diamond Alternative Energy v. EPA, as well as other cases that center on jurisdiction over Clean Air Act litigation. Energy funding freeze hits hard
From Arizona to Vermont, states and companies are feeling the squeeze from President Donald Trump's decision to shut off access to climate and clean energy programs funded by the Department of Energy, writes Benjamin Storrow. The DOE freeze mirrors similar pauses at other federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, where funding for solar projects and greenhouse gas reduction grants has been held up. But while funding has been partially restored at EPA following two court rulings, some DOE recipients said they still could not access funding. Democrats clap back
Democrats have ramped up their pressure against the EPA spending freeze for several Inflation Reduction Act climate programs, blasting the move as an illegal impoundment of congressionally mandated spending that violated a court ruling issued earlier this week, write Josh Siegel, Zack Colman and Annie Snider. Lawmakers staged a rally at EPA’s downtown headquarters on Thursday that drew about 100 people to protest actions by the Trump administration that they said were designed to intimidate agency staff and flout the legal orders to resume spending on climate and environment programs.
| | Stuck in the middle: These two obscure clean energy metals are caught in the crosshairs of the U.S.-China trade war. New restrictions: Scientists are on alert as NOAA restricts contact with foreign nationals.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies on Jan. 15, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency staffers do not have access to secretive information about the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile that is overseen by the department. Senate Republicans released their blueprint for budget reconciliation Friday afternoon, outlining their party-line plans for spending and cuts for the first time. Trump's planned tariffs on neighboring Canada and Mexico rely on a novel interpretation of federal law that is prompting questions about whether his strategy could survive legal challenge. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | |
