AG Kris Mayes joins 16 states in suing federal government for $15M in EV charging infrastructure

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and a coalition of 16 other states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration for its suspension of two bipartisan grant programs for electric vehicle charging.

According to Mayes, the administration suspending the grants puts $15 million that the city of Phoenix planned to use to strategically increase public access to EV charging infrastructure in jeopardy.

“I’ve already protected more than $1.5 billion for Arizona by filing these lawsuits and forcing the federal government to cough up the funding it lawfully owes us,” Mayes said in an announcement. “The Federal Highway Administration awarded $15 million to Phoenix, and the President doesn’t have the right to step in and take it away.”

Details on the $15 million in EV charging infrastructure Mayes is suing for

In 2024, the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant Program was identified by the Arizona Governor’s Office of Resiliency Clean Arizona Plan as a significant way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Grand Canyon State.

Multiple communities across Arizona have already been able to implement public EV charging programs due to the funding, including Mesa, Cochise County, the San Carlos Apache Tribal Nation and Maricopa County.

In January, the city of Phoenix was selected to receive the $15 million CFI grant. However, the city has still not received the awarded funds, which would have gone toward the installation of around 150 public EV charging ports as well as 10 portable solar-powered charging stations and solar-covered parking structure at city-owned multi-family housing locations.

According to Mayes, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) suddenly started “quietly refusing” to approve any new funding under the CFI Program and the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Program. They were created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed and funded by Congress in 2022.

She added that USDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have been refusing any new financial commitments under both programs since spring of this year.

The coalition alleges in the lawsuit that USDOT’s actions and the Trump administration’s refusal to spend the Congress appropriate EV infrastructure funds violated the separation of powers and, for the administration specifically, the Administrative Procedure Act.

It also asks the court to find the actions unlawful and order the Trump administration to stop withholding funds.

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