Four House members crossed party lines on Thursday in a vote that rejected the Biden administration’s temporary waiver of rules for government-funded electric vehicle chargers.
In a 209-198 vote, the resolution passed with bipartisan support. Two Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Donald Davis (D-NC) joined 207 Republicans in voting in support of overturning the waiver. Two Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) joined 196 Democrats who voted against the measure.
While Golden thinks the government “should prioritize made-in-America products and materials,” Biden’s “‘Buy America’ rule doesn’t live up to the name.”
“It would allow foreign steel and iron to be used on these infrastructure projects. I’m not here to be a rubber stamp for feel-good rules. If the administration puts forward a real Buy America rule, I’ll be the first in line to vote for it,” Golden said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
In a vote note, McClintock said he opposed all federal funding for EV chargers, but Congress “decided that taxpayers should pay for them instead and included a waivable ‘Buy American’ requirement.”
He added the “resolution would cancel the waiver, meaning that American taxpayers – who shouldn’t be paying for these things at all – will be paying extravagant prices and getting far fewer EV chargers for their money.”
Last year, the Federal Highway Administration waived some “Buy America” rules, such as the domestic sourcing requirement for EV chargers paid for through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. A Republican bill was introduced to overturn the temporary waiver, and the Senate voted 50-48 to pass the resolution in November. However, the White House said President Joe Biden would veto the measure.
In similar fashion, four senators broke with their party in supporting the resolution: Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Joe Manchin (D-WV), joined by Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). Defying his Republican colleagues, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against the measure.
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 55% of the components in EV chargers must be from domestic sources, including iron and steel. But the FHA issued a temporary order in February, bypassing some of those requirements due to a higher demand for EV chargers.
“I voted to overturn Joe Biden’s pro-Communist China rule that would undermine American businesses that have made significant investments into EV manufacturing,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said. “Biden’s waiver of the Buy America requirements empower our foreign adversaries like Communist China by pouring hard-earned American taxpayer dollars into foreign markets.”
Resolution author Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) encouraged Biden to sign the resolution, arguing if the country continues to push for a speedy EV transition using taxpayer dollars, components should be made in America.
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“If the Biden Administration wants to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to buy electric vehicle charging stations, it should only benefit American workers and industries. President Biden should act in the interest of the American people, follow the bipartisan wishes of Congress, and stop favoring foreign industry,” Rubio said after the measure passed.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Davis and Fitzpatrick for comment.
