Lawmakers drag Buttigieg into UAW fight

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers unloaded their contempt for the Biden administration’s electric vehicle policy on U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Democrats provided Buttigieg some relief, mostly by praising the administration for the record funding flowing from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law into projects that are helping relieve freight congestion and improving mobility for pedestrians.

But several Republicans used the hearing, held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to accuse Buttigieg and his department of aggravating the struggle between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Big Three automakers by linking the current UAW strike to the administration’s push to electrify the nation’s automotive fleet.

Scott Perry, R-Pa., argued that government subsidies to support EVs are causing a market imbalance for vehicles that his constituents do not want.

“The people I work for can’t afford what you’re forcing on them,” Perry told Buttigieg. “These are not market forces, this is the government funding the destruction of our own auto industry. I hope you know that approximately two thirds of EV owners make over $100,000 a year. My [constituents] don’t make that. So you realize that forcing car companies to make these vehicles at a loss — at about $60,000 per vehicle sold — is killing UAW jobs?”

Buttigieg responded by arguing that manufacturing jobs are growing under the current administration — compared to “the manufacturing recession” of the Trump administration — because of new government investments in U.S. manufacturing.

“I got started in politics when an Indiana factory was at risk of being shut down because an elected official in my state tried to block the administration from saving Chrysler,” Buttigieg said. “I got involved and stood with the UAW to save those jobs, and I’ll always be with auto jobs being preserved.”

John James, R-Mich., contended that automakers could end up paying $10 billion-$13 billion in civil penalties for failure to comply with aggressive corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards being proposed by the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That could cut down on profits — and potential profit-sharing with autoworkers, James reasoned.

“If penalties are levied on automakers, this will take money away from autoworkers,” he said. “Is the president aware that he’s literally taking money away from the autoworkers by impugning their bonuses?”

Buttigieg answered that such a scenario is inaccurate because it assumes automakers will fail to comply with the new standards.

“Ever since the first CAFE standards were first introduced in the Nixon administration, industry said there was no way they could possibly have vehicles more efficient than 13.5 miles per gallon,” Buttigieg said. “But in the end, industry got it done, and today American consumers have saved billions of dollars and we have cleaner air. And I have a lot of confidence that industry can continue, as they have in the past, to comply with the law.”

During remarks at the White House shortly after the strike was announced on Friday, President Joe Biden said that the transition to EVs should be fair and a “win-win” for autoworkers and manufacturers.

“But I believe [manufacturers] should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW,” he added.

With the UAW strike nearing the end of its first week, logistics and supply chain experts have warned that the ripple effects could be severe for the trucking industry, particularly auto haulers.

Related articles:

• Freight interests frustrated with leadership vacuum at DOT
• Buttigieg addresses teen drivers, truck parking at Senate hearing
• Transportation industry representatives attack infrastructure law rollout

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