U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) privately asked the Trump administration last week to release funding for a Mercedes-Benz plant to convert to the production of electric vehicles, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
In a two-page letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Mace asked the administration to disburse roughly $285 million for the Mercedes-Benz Vans plant northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, through a grant program approved as part of the Biden administration’s 2022 climate legislation. The grant money is part of a $1.8 billion program for shuttered or at-risk auto plants to manufacture electric vehicles and convert their supply chains.
The Trump administration has moved to withhold funding for former president Joe Biden’s climate programs and is also seeking to repeal hundreds of billions of dollars in federal clean energy incentives as part of the tax bill being debated by the Senate.
But Mace’s letter illustrates the tension some GOP lawmakers face as they seek to support Trump’s agenda while shielding the jobs that some of Biden’s programs brought to their own constituents.
Mace writes that the German company’s efforts to produce a light-duty electric van prototype would add 800 jobs, attract additional capital to the region and “ensure America-made options remain available in the commercial vehicle sector.” Mace’s district includes much of the Charleston area.
“We strongly support President Trump’s initiative to restore fiscal responsibility within the executive branch, particularly in reducing waste, fraud, and redundancies. While we understand and support the necessity of such measures, we believe that federal investments should continue to prioritize projects with sustained economic growth,” the letter states.
In a statement, Mace spokeswoman Sydney Long said that the grant is a “major opportunity” for South Carolina and that Mace has been “incredibly successful” in securing grant funding for the state.
“Congresswoman Mace has always raised concerns about reckless federal spending. But once the money is out the door, she’s always fought to bring jobs and investment home to South Carolina. Congresswoman Mace has repeatedly stated South Carolina’s tax dollars matter just as much as anyone else’s,” Long said. “The $285 million grant tied to up to 800 jobs at Mercedez-Benz Vans plant in North Charleston is a major opportunity for South Carolina.”
The Energy Department said in a statement that it is conducting a department-wide review to ensure “all activities follow the law, comply with applicable court orders and align with the Trump administration’s priorities,” adding that Trump has a “mandate” to unleash “American Energy Dominance.”
It is impossible to know precisely how much climate-related funding Trump has rescinded. Shortly after taking office, the president signed an executive order pausing the disbursement of funding through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, as well as other climate-related money from the bipartisan infrastructure law approved earlier in the Biden administration. Federal courts have ordered some of these programs restored, but it is hard to know how many of those that were frozen are now being funded, said Jesse Jenkins, an energy modeler at Princeton University.
“Most of it has been disrupted, as far as we can tell, though it’s very piecemeal and hard to track down,” Jenkins said.
Congressional Republicans have largely supported the effort to rescind the clean energy funds, arguing that Biden’s climate funding was wasteful. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said the GOP tax bill “delivers record savings by slashing Biden-era Green New Deal spending.”
Democrats have maintained that Trump’s opposition to clean energy is leading Republican lawmakers to hurt their own constituents. Roughly 85 percent of the investments unlocked in part by the 2022 law have come in Republican districts, according to an analysis last year by E2, a nonpartisan group.
“These funds were appropriated specifically to help autoworkers stay in their jobs at plants at risk of closing and devastating entire communities,” said Alex Jacquez, who served as a senior official in the Biden administration and is now chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning think tank. “Nancy Mace and her Republican colleagues talk a big game about reversing EV investments, but when it comes down to it, they know that it means jobs in their districts.”
Some in the GOP have balked at the extent of the cuts. More than a dozen House Republicans this month lobbied the Senate to preserve the clean energy incentives in the tax bill that they had voted through. The Senate version of the legislation would also slow the repeal of some of those provisions, though it, too, would eventually eliminate them.
“While we were proud to have worked to ensure that the bill did not include a full repeal of the clean energy tax credits, we remain deeply concerned by several provisions,” says the letter, led by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia.) The letter also criticizes the bill for causing “significant disruption to projects under development and stop investments needed to win the global energy race.”
Mace was not among the signatories.
