AASHTO Journal - Transportation Funding Restored After Inadvertent Suspension

An executive order issued by President Trump aimed at rolling back “Green New Deal” spending on renewable energy and electric vehicle programs ended up temporarily suspending all highway reimbursement payments to states for roughly four hours on January 21 due to a misinterpretation of the wording of the order.

[Above photo of President Trump via the White House]

Section 7 of the executive order in question – entitled “Unleashing American Energy” – intended to align funding “disbursements” from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA of 2022 with the new Administration’s energy policy, focused on electric vehicle charging infrastructure funding made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure or “NEVI” formula program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure or “CFI” discretionary grant program.

However, the Federal Highway Administration’s initial interpretation of the order led to a freeze of all administrative activities – such as project authorizations and cash reimbursements – associated with already-approved projects funded under the IIJA including formula programs to states.

Within a few hours, however, the FHWA resumed approving new projects under the Highway Trust Fund formula programs and repaying state departments of transportation for work already done.

“There was some initial concern that the ‘Unleashing American Energy’ executive order issued by President Trump was going roll back spending in every program within the IIJA and IRA. We had a great discussion with both career staff at USDOT as well as political leadership and it is very clear that isn’t the case. It is not as broad as what many initially thought,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

“We are encouraged that the Trump administration officials were available to talk through this with us and receptive to our concerns,” he noted.

Tymon added that such policy shifts are not uncommon following administration changes.

“We experienced similar changes when the Biden administration came in and repealed rulemakings and guidance the prior Trump administration put in place. This is what we’ve seen in politics – a ‘whiplash’ with changes in Congress and the White House to move in different policy directions,” he explained. “So we will now see some of Biden’s initiatives pulled back and the Trump administration put their particular stamp on transportation from a policy standpoint.”