Senate will try to block California vehicle standards that would phase out gas-powered cars [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 6:27 PM EDT, May 20, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three House-passed resolutions that would roll back the standards. Final votes could come as soon as this week.
His announcement came despite significant pushback from Democrats, questions from some Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian, who has sided with the U.S. Government Accountability Office in saying California’s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House.
The resolutions would block California’s rules to phase out the gas-powered cars, along with standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Like the House, Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. The Trump administration in 2019 revoked California’s ability to enforce its own emissions standards, but Biden later restored the state’s authority.
Republicans have argued that the rules effectively dictate standards for the whole country, imposing what would eventually be a nationwide electric vehicle mandate. Around a dozen states have already followed California’s lead.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/senate-california-epa-vehicle-emission-standards-656614ff3248f970a7b9aa91182e1139
The GOP is ignoring the Senate Parliamentarian that has said that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) does not apply to "waivers" (which are actually an option of the Clean Air Act and not some random "regulation" they can overturn using the CRA).
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