The Senate voted Thursday to strip California of its ability to set strict vehicle emissions standards aimed at phasing out gas-powered cars, circumventing the chamber’s parliamentarian to send the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk.
In a 51-44 vote, the Senate voted to cancel waivers granted to California by the Environmental Protection Agency. These waivers gave the state the ability to set regulations banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, which critics have likened to an electric vehicle mandate. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was the only Democrat who voted in favor, while several others did not participate.
Early Thursday afternoon, lawmakers in the Senate, in a 51-45 vote, also moved to cancel EPA waivers granted to the state that allowed California to set strict emissions rules on heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers.
The Senate also voted 49-46 to cancel waivers giving California the ability to issue regulations aimed at reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.
All three measures have already been passed by the House.
The votes have significant ramifications for the country. A dozen states follow California, which has an exemption that allows it to set its own rules under the Clean Air Act and implement regulations that will ban the sale of gas-powered cars after 2035. Trump campaigned hard against rules that favor EVs, and Republicans have argued that California rules limit consumer choice nationwide.
As in the lower chamber, Senate Republicans repealed the waivers under the Congressional Review Act, a legislative process that allows the majority to bypass a filibuster and vote in a simple majority to undo a regulation.
The GOP has frequently used this process over the last few months to undo numerous Biden administration energy regulations.
What made Thursday’s vote stand out, though, is that it directly challenged a finding from the Government Accountability Office that the waiver given to California is not subject to repeal via the CRA.
The Senate parliamentarian advised that the waivers and regulations were not considered agency rules and, therefore, were not subject to the CRA. Still, House Republicans voted to cancel the rules under the CRA in late April.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has insisted that the waivers are subject to the CRA. He announced plans to take up the standards just one day before the vote, calling the waivers “an improper expansion” of the Clean Air Act.
In an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner Wednesday morning, Thune accused the GAO of improperly acting to constrain Congress’s power.
“The audacious GAO now leaves the Senate with a simple choice: either we overrule GAO’s improper action and return rulemaking authority to elected officials, or we allow unelected bureaucrats to constrain Congress’s Article I authority,” Thune wrote, claiming the parliamentarian was seeking to protect Biden-era green rules.
Republicans moved to affirm their ability to repeal the waivers in a late-night vote Wednesday, with the Senate voting 51-49 along party lines.
Democrats in the Senate have criticized the majority’s move to ignore the GAO finding, accusing Republicans of looking to get around chamber procedure and the 60-vote legislative filibuster. Some have threatened to retaliate by slowing down the confirmation process of President Donald Trump’s nominees to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“If this attempt is successful, the consequences will be far-reaching, not only for our clean energy economy, the air our children breathe, and for our climate, but for the future of the CRA and for the Senate as an institution,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said in a statement Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also warned Wednesday that Democrats would take a similar sweeping view of the CRA to get around the filibuster when they regain the majority.
“Make no mistake, Republicans have set a new precedent that will come back to haunt them and haunt this chamber,” Schumer said. “What goes around comes around.”
Environmental groups and climate activists have also lambasted Republicans for calling the vote, with the Environmental Defense Fund accusing them of violating Senate rules.
“This procedural violation denies California’s right to decide how best to protect the health and safety of its residents,” Joanna Slaney, vice president for political and government affairs at EDF, said in a statement. “The effort to misuse this procedural tool now is not only unlawful but will invite future disregard of clear boundaries in the Senate.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced their intention to file a lawsuit over the matter.
THUNE IGNORES PARLIAMENTARIAN TO TEE UP CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS VOTE
In a statement released Thursday, Newsom called the Senate vote “illegal.”
“Republicans went around their own parliamentarian to defy decades of precedent. We won’t stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again — undoing work that goes back to the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — all while ceding our economic future to China,” the governor said. “We’re going to fight this unconstitutional attack on California in court.”
