The Biden administration’s rule governing the production of electric vehicle chargers using domestic materials is at risk after the Senate’s vote to repeal it on Wednesday.
The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $7.5 billion for EV chargers, a crucial part of President Biden’s climate change agenda which aims to transition from gas-powered cars to electric ones.
However, critics argue that the administration’s waiver of the “Buy America” rules would make the U.S. more reliant on China for supplies such as steel and iron, for government-funded chargers.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 50-48 to narrowly pass the GOP-led legislation to undermine the administration’s action. A simple majority was needed.
Four Senate Democrats – Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats – sided with almost all Republicans.
All of the Democratic defectors are up for reelection next year.
This vote marks the latest example of vulnerable Senate Democrats aligning with Republicans to roll back Mr. Biden’s regulatory agenda through privileged resolutions under the Congressional Review Act, which GOP senators have used to force floor votes.
The measure will now go to the House, where the Republican majority is expected to also pass it.
President Biden has vowed to issue what would be the ninth veto of his presidency, however, Congress has not mustered the two-thirds majority to override any prior vetoes.
“It hurts American companies and empowers foreign adversaries, like China, to control our energy infrastructure,” said the measure’s author, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. “We should never use American dollars to subsidize Chinese-made products.”
However, climate hawks on Capitol Hill and the administration argued that dismantling the waiver from the Federal Highway Administration to suspend domestic sourcing requirements would actually worsen U.S. dependency on China, because it would also repeal long-term domestic sourcing requirements that kick in next year.
Chargers must be made from at least 55% of domestic materials to qualify for government funding and be 100% manufactured in the U.S., a stipulation that will not go into effect until July 2024 in an effort to give manufacturers a transition period.
The funding is part of President Biden’s goal for 500,000 new EV chargers to be installed by 2030 as the U.S. remains far behind industry needs.
In a veto threat issued prior to the vote, the White House said its administration’s actions are twofold: “Ensure that federal dollars for EV chargers are used to purchase American-made products, while allowing newly announced manufacturing capacity for EV charger components the necessary time to ramp up production.”
