Senate Rejects Buy American Waiver

The Senate has overturned President Biden’s decision to waive some Buy American requirements for government funded electric vehicle charging stations, despite a White House veto threat.

By a vote of 50 to 48, senators supported a Republican measure (SJRes 48) to take away the government’s ability to temporarily waive Buy American rules for EV charging stations. Democrats Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Joe Manchin (WVa) and Jon Tester (Mont), along with Independent Kyrsten Sinema (Az) joined Republicans in voting for the measure.

The measure responds to a Federal Highway Administration ruling in February allowing the waiver of Buy American until July 2024, so that EV charger acquisition and installation could begin immediately.

In a statement of Administration policy issued just before the Senate vote, the Office of Management and Budget said that President Biden will veto the measure.

“This resolution would eliminate the domestic manufacturing requirement for electric vehicle (EV) chargers funded by the FHWA, thereby harming domestic manufacturing and American jobs,”