Senate passes GOP measure to overturn EV charger rule

[Corn Gas Burns Noses]

The Senate narrowly passed a Republican-led measure on Wednesday aimed at
cutting Beijing out of the supply chain for electric vehicle chargers —
but which the White House argues would do the very opposite.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) joined Republicans to pass the Congressional
Review Act resolution, S.J. Res. 38 (118), by a 50-48 vote. Sen. Rand Paul
(R-Ky.) voted against.

The White House on Wednesday pledged to veto the resolution, which would
overturn a rule that temporarily waives some domestic content requirements
for federally funded electric vehicle charging stations.

“If we’re going to spend $5 billion of taxpayer money to build electric
vehicle charging stations in the United States, it should be made by
Americans, in America, using American products,” the resolution’s sponsor,
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), said on the Senate floor.

Several Democrats, on the other hand, argued that overturning the rule
would mean the EV charger sourcing requirements revert back to a blanket
waiver from 1983 that would mean fewer prohibitions against foreign-made
products.

“If you eliminate this rule, as the Rubio resolution would do, it would
remove all Buy America restrictions for EV charger purchases, allowing
federal taxpayer dollars to buy chargers from China,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin
(D-Wis.) said on the floor.

The United Steelworkers and the White House made the same argument against
the measure.

“If enacted, S.J. Res. 38 would weaken Buy America requirements by
reverting to FHWA’s general waiver for manufactured products, allowing
federal dollars — including $7.5 billion from the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law — to be spent on chargers made in competitor nations
like the People’s Republic of China,” the White House said a statement of
administration policy.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/08/senate-gop-ev-chargers-00126220