Lee Zeldin accuses the Biden administration of sending $160 million in taxpayer money to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer that then filed for bankruptcy, leaving 55 school districts with no deliveries and millions unpaid, and he connects this failure to a broader pattern of wasteful green spending.
EPA head Lee Zeldin bluntly called out the decision to transfer $160 million upfront to a Canadian electric vehicle bus maker that never delivered a single school bus. According to Zeldin, the company took the cash, declared bankruptcy, and left districts waiting while taxpayers absorbed the loss. The firm was supposed to supply buses to 55 school districts and now those orders are unpaid or undelivered.
Zeldin also spoke to Fox News about the issue and pushed the point that handing out full payments before performance invites fraud and failure. Republicans are framing this as an avoidable example of poor oversight and misplaced priorities. The case raises questions about how grant decisions were made and why safeguards were apparently ignored.
“There was $160 million that went to a Canadian electric vehicle bus manufacturer,” Zeldin said. “The Biden administration sent all of the money. Now you might say, ‘Hey, produce the school bus, and then we’ll pay you’ or ‘If you need some partial payments along the way, we’ll give some money.’ That makes sense. They gave all the money up front. Well guess what? They jsut declared bankruptcy. They still haven’t provided $95 million worth of school buses to 55 school districts. It’s the American taxpayer that gets screwed.”
This episode is not being treated as isolated by critics who point to a pattern of big government handouts to green companies that later collapse. In one earlier, widely reported case, Proterra filed for Chapter 11 despite receiving massive federal backing tied to Biden-era green spending. That episode, like this one, left taxpayers on the hook and school districts stranded.
Parents and local officials have already described real harm from unreliable electric buses in cold weather, saying some vehicles failed to operate or left students exposed to freezing conditions. Those complaints are paired with hard concerns about safety and the practical readiness of the technology for certain climates. Lawmakers on the right say these are predictable consequences when administrations prioritize political green projects over reliable, proven solutions.
There are also alarming reports that a small number of electric buses have caught fire, raising safety and liability questions about these deployments. Although, three of those buses did catch fire.
Those battery fires are very hot, deadly, and difficult to extinguish, by the way.
Republicans say this is exactly why the federal government should stop front-loading payments and insist on performance milestones, audits, and clawback provisions before handing over large sums. The lack of basic contract protections here reads like negligence to critics who want tougher oversight and immediate accountability for waste.
We still believe that most of our budget problems could be solved if we addressed this fraud. Yes, it is. In Canada and the U.S., Leftists are taking our money for wasteful schemes.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
