Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced a decisive victory in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for unlawfully withholding bipartisan Congressionally-mandated funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. Late last week, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of New Jersey in a May 2025 lawsuit filed by a coalition of 17 attorneys general arguing that the federal government must restore the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI) Congress created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). That funding, totaling $73 million for New Jersey, would go towards electric vehicle charging infrastructure that helps reduce costs for residents and commuters.
“This win puts New Jersey back on track for $73 million in funding unlawfully stripped away through the Trump Administration’s illegal actions,” said Acting Attorney General Davenport. “New Jerseyans want sustainable transportation options, and my office will always fight on behalf of hard-working commuters, residents, and the State’s economy when the federal government oversteps its authority.”
In 2022, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. One provision of the IIJA appropriated $5 billion for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the states.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to pause disbursement of funds under the IIJA and the Inflation Reduction Act, including NEVI funding. Even though Congress required the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to fund NEVI, the FHWA notified states in early February that the agency was revoking all previously approved plans to implement NEVI, despite Congress’s directive to fund the program.
Prior to this sudden revocation, the federal government had previously approved the State of New Jersey’s plan to implement NEVI, including as recently as November 2024. In 2024, the State awarded a contract for the construction of these charging stations.
This summary judgment order restores New Jersey’s NEVI funding and prohibits the Trump Administration from continuing its arbitrary and capricious illegal actions. The May 2025 complaint alleged that the Trump Administration’s refusal to spend the funds that Congress appropriated for EV infrastructure is unlawful because it violates the separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Act. The programs were created by statute, and federal agencies have a duty to faithfully execute those statutes.
This most recent decision is a final ruling by the federal court after the state attorneys general obtained an early preliminary injunction in June. In its most recent decision, the court declared the federal government’s actions unlawful and ruled that the plaintiff States’ “State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans SHALL be restored to the legal status they held prior to the February 6, 2025.” As the court explained, “Plaintiff States have dedicated substantial time, resources, and work that must now be scrapped, duplicated, or re-conceived” under the federal government’s sudden and unlawful acts. The ruling is a win for New Jersey’s electric vehicle infrastructure and helps reduce transportation costs for its residents and commuters.
New Jersey was joined in the complaint by the attorneys general of Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Vermont.
