SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states.

U.S. District Judge Tana Lin in Washington state partially granted a preliminary injunction that sought to free up the money approved under then-President Joe Biden that the Trump administration withheld earlier this year. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued over the move, arguing that the administration did not have the authority to block the congressionally approved funds. The program was set to allocate $5 billion over five years to various states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion already had been made available.

Lin ordered that funding be released in 14 of the states, including in Arizona, California and New York. Yet she denied granting the preliminary injunction for D.C., Minnesota and Vermont, saying they did not provide enough evidence that they would face “irreparable harm” if the money wasn’t immediately freed up.

Lin said the Trump administration overstepped its constitutional authority when it froze the funding previously approved by Congress in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The order will go into effect Tuesday unless the Trump administration appeals. The Federal Highway Administration did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the decision.

The Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric-vehicle charging under the program. States suing the Trump administration said the decision to freeze funding halted projects midstream, requiring immediate court intervention.

The Trump administration argued that it was working on new guidance for the program and was only pausing future funding in the meantime.

The program was meant to assuage concerns about electric vehicles and build infrastructure along highway corridors first, then address gaps elsewhere once the state highway obligations were met.

Some states with projects running under the program already have been reimbursed by the Biden-era federal funds. Others are still contracting for their sites. Still more had halted their plans by the time the Trump administration ordered states to stop their spending.