Biden sec behind $7.5 billion EV charging station flop suddenly has thoughts on gov’t efficiency

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose agency struggled to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers with billions of dollars in three years, criticized the Trump administration’s approach to enhancing government efficiency on Thursday.

Buttigieg argued that the Trump administration’s push to streamline the federal government with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is missing the mark by being too broad and cutting spending that should not be eliminated during an appearance on comedian Andrew Schulz’s podcast. When he was transportation secretary, Buttigieg’s agency had $7.5 billion at its disposal to install EV charging stations around the U.S. from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, but only managed to complete a few dozen projects.

If we’re serious about more efficient government and better everyday life in America – which we all should be – that means actually improving government, not cutting health care for poor people and slashing support for veterans. pic.twitter.com/LR2s8RfWIJ

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 24, 2025

“They don’t have an answer. Their answer is burn it all down, right? If we haven’t solved poverty, their answer is ‘we’re gonna slash Medicaid,’ which is what the Republican budget moving through Congress right now will do, is slash Medicaid,” Buttigieg said. “Medicaid may not be perfect. In fact, I know for a fact, like many issues come up in the way it’s administered, the way people have access to it. But I also know for a fact that if your answer to that is just to cut out a bunch of poor people, or VA, like any veteran can tell you the horror stories of all the times things didn’t go right in dealing with the VA. But, if you think the answer is to just cut it or privatize it, that’s not an answer. We can do better than that, and I think my party’s job is to make clear what that looks like and how we would do it better.”

President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that Republicans will not gut Medicaid, but Democrats have continued to claim otherwise without evidence.

Buttigieg summarized his position in the caption of a Thursday post to X featuring the clip of his comments on Schulz’s show.

“If we’re serious about more efficient government and better everyday life in America — which we all should be — that means actually improving government, not cutting health care for poor people and slashing support for veterans,” Buttigieg wrote.

As of November 2024, only “a few dozen chargers” funded by the $7.5 billion pot of funding had gone online, according to Politico. Among other issues, one reason for the sluggish rollout was that provisions in the law required developers to meet unrelated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirements — such as hosting “neighborhood block parties” — in order to take advantage of the funding.

Buttigieg has stayed visible in the months following the arrival of the Trump administration, and there is some speculation that he may have his eye on the 2028 presidential race.

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