The Senate passed a disapproval resolution overturning the Biden administration’s decision to waive “Buy America” requirements for government-funded electric chargers, the latest attempt to complicate the White House’s plan to electrify cars. Although the measure is expected to pass the GOP-controlled House, the White House has threatened to veto the measure, likely killing the move.
The measure passed in a 50-48 vote, with Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown (OH), Joe Manchin (WV), and Jon Tester (MT), as well as independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), voting for the Republican-led resolution. GOP Sen. Rand Paul (KY) voted against the measure.
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The Buy America provisions, written into law by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, require federal infrastructure projects such as electric vehicle chargers to obtain at least 55% of the construction materials from domestic sources and be totally manufactured in the United States. In February, the Federal Highway Administration issued a temporary waiver to suspend the 55% requirement until July 2024. The waiver would still require the chargers to be assembled at a U.S. factory.
“We are now facing, under this waiver they’re requesting, the real prospect that significant portions of the $5 billion that are going to go to electric vehicle charging stations are going to be spent on Chinese companies,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the leading lawmaker on the resolution, said during floor debate. “We’re either serious about restoring America’s industrial capabilities or we’re not.”
In July, Rubio and other Republican senators introduced a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the FHWA waiver, subjecting the EV charging projects to the bill’s original requirements.
Democrats, however, argue that implementing the resolution would have the opposite effect and lead to fewer U.S.-made chargers. They reasoned that if the rule were overturned, EV chargers would revert under the FHWA’s general waiver for manufactured products, which exempts highway infrastructure from domestic sourcing requirements.
In 1983, the Reagan administration exempted manufactured products from being required to be sourced and produced in the U.S., except for steel and iron manufactured items. The FHWA rule, finalized in March, waived requirements for steel, iron, manufactured products, and construction materials in EV chargers until next year.
“Under the Rubio resolution, these requirements would go away. They vanish,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) during floor remarks. “It makes me think, and the resolution itself suggests, that he’s more interested in scoring political points rather than doing the hard work of increasing the number of products and the number of programs that are subject to Buy America requirements.”
In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Rubio rebuffed the arguments.
“I don’t agree with their analysis, but I understand why they’re saying that,” Rubio said. “They’re against it.”
Other Democrats, however, diverged from their colleagues in their interpretation of the resolution. Tester, who’s up for reelection in 2024, said that he voted for the CRA “because I want stuff to be built here in the U.S.”
“It’s my staff against theirs,” he told the Washington Examiner, referring to other Democratic senators who voted against the resolution.
The White House threatened to veto the resolution in a statement of administrative policy Wednesday, stating that it would harm domestic manufacturing and American jobs.
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“If enacted, S.J. Res. 38 would undermine the hundreds of millions of dollars that the private sector has already invested in domestic EV charging manufacturing, and chill further domestic investment in this critical market,” the statement reads. “If the President were presented with S.J. Res. 38, he would veto it.”
The measure now heads to the House, although it’s unclear which lawmakers would take the lead in shepherding the disapproval resolution through the lower chamber. Following the bill’s passage, Rubio said he’s unsure of who would take up that responsibility but quipped, “I don’t think we’ll have a shortage of people.”
