The founding director of the agency that oversees the $7.5 billion federal effort to build electric vehicle charging stations has left the government.
Gabe Klein’s departure from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation means President Donald Trump can hire a new executive director. The office has already allocated most of the EV charger funds — meaning the president has little control over how they are spent — but the Trump administration has still indicated that it hopes to dial back or cancel federal EV-charging efforts.
Klein posted on LinkedIn about his departure Jan. 16, four days before Trump’s inauguration. The Joint Office executive director is a federal employee and requires no Senate confirmation.
The office, which was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021, is the first in history to be a joint project of two federal departments. The Energy and Transportation departments both have a role in building out a nationwide charging network, which requires electricity and transportation providers to work together in new ways.
