Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) is introducing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would rescind the Biden Administration's mandate giving preference to electric and hybrid military vehicles.
The original EV mandate, signed by President Biden in 2021, aimed to gradually transition all military vehicles to alternative fuel sources by 2035, a goal that the United States Army has struggled to achieve.
The American Enterprise Institute's John Ferrari called the mandate "a purely political directive by the Biden administration."
"It remains political, and I think that on day one or day two of the new administration, that executive order will be withdrawn," Ferrari added.
Rep. Patronis agreed, saying in his press release, "Our military's primary focus should be defending the nation and neutralizing threats to our country, not on which vehicles to drive and checking boxes for a woke political agenda."
"The failed Biden Administration's push for electric and hybrid vehicles in the military over gas-powered vehicles was not only less efficient and costly but could've put lives in danger by not allowing for more reliable assets to be used in the field," Rep. Patronis continued. "The irony is not lost on the American people that the Biden Administration was so radical in its Leftwing thinking, and so beholden to its donors, that they rationalized that the Pentagon needed to be environmentally sensitive to Mother Earth. I'm proud to introduce this amendment that will cut red tape and allow the military to do what they do best – keep America free and safe."
Former Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) had similarly blasted Biden's electric vehicle mandates last June, telling Fox News that he "sat in testimony [with] Biden's Secretary of the Army [Christine Wormuth]."
"People say this electric tank thing is a joke. It is not; her top goal for the United States Army is not to be the most lethal and the most feared; it is to be carbon neutral by 2030, and that leads to her putting our bases on Chinese-made solar power [and] putting research and development funds into electric tanks. They are very serious, and it is scary," Waltz concluded.
