June 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump and his administration to release billions of Congress-approved dollars for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that they froze shortly after returning to the White House.
In her 66-page ruling Tuesday, Judge Tana Lin in Seattle found that President Donald Trump violated the separation-of-powers doctrine enshrined in the Constitution and overextended executive authority when he halted the distribution of funds earmarked to expand the United States' EV charging network.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed in early May by 16 states and the District of Columbia. However, Lin, a President Joe Biden appointee, only awarded a partial preliminary injunction, ordering the Trump administration to disburse the money to 14 of the states. D.C., Minnesota and Vermont did not provide sufficient evidence demonstrating "the irreparable harm that would befall them absent injunctive relief."
"Although these three Plaintiffs, like the other established sufficient injury to satisfy the ripeness requirement ... they have not provided any testimony, beyond what is alleged in the complaint, that demonstrates, say, a delayed or canceled project, a budget thrown into chaos or a withdrawn request for proposals," she wrote.
