The Biden administration closed on a huge loan to electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
of $6.57 billion loan The company will finance an electric vehicle factory in Georgia that currently specializes in luxury cars, where it will produce SUVs and crossovers. In a press release, the Department of Energy described these vehicles as “mass market” rather than luxury products.
The end of the loan comes amid expectations that the Trump administration will seek to broadly rein in climate-related spending. Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy also specifically criticized the loan on social platform X, calling it “insane.”
“This smells like a political attack on Elon Musk and Tesla,” he wrote, referring to Elon Musk, who will co-run the Government Efficiency Commission with Ramaswamy.
The Biden administration says the facility, funded by the loan, will provide 7,500 operational jobs by 2030 and produce 400,000 vehicles each year.
In addition, the administration closed another agency $1.66 billion loan Funding the construction of six facilities to produce hydrogen energy.
As of Thursday, the Department of Energy's Office of Loan Planning had announced 26 interim loan commitments totaling $60.58 billion that had not yet been completed, according to a spokesperson.
Updated at 6:04pm ET