Khanna: ‘A Lot’ of EV Subsidies Going ‘Where Workers Are Not Represented’ and CEOs Are Making Tons

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Last Call,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) stated that “a lot” of the electric vehicle subsidies are “ending up in places where workers are not represented” while CEOs make a ton of money and companies have enriched shareholders through buybacks, “and workers are not participating.”

Host Brian Sullivan asked, “[I]n your op-ed, it actually notes about $300 billion in government subsidies and taxpayer money may be going toward the space, all of it, to your point, batteries, supply chains, cars, whatever it may be, over, say, call it the next eight to nine years. Is that a good use of taxpayer money if the money ends up, in some cases like it is, in non-unionized shops that are not in, say, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, or Illinois?”

Khanna responded, “That’s a problem that a lot of this money is ending up in places where workers are not represented. And you have CEOs, in some cases, as you know, making $30 million, 365 times that of the median employee. These companies have engaged in $5 billion of stock buybacks in the last year, which is enriching their shareholders. Whatever else you think of stock buybacks, it’s giving money to shareholders in a form of dividend payments basically, and workers are not participating. Now, I believe that’s wrong regardless of government investment, when you and I are paying for the industry and subsidizing it billions of dollars, we should make sure ordinary workers are getting their fair wages.”

Khanna added, “I also think you should be prioritizing American companies in where the funding is going.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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