The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote within days on a measure that would overturn California’s aggressive zero-emission vehicle mandate, which requires all new car sales to be electric by 2035. Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed the plan Tuesday, calling California’s policy more harmful than federal EV mandates under the Biden administration.
The vote has wide implications for the auto industry and state-led environmental regulation. If successful, the measure would cancel a waiver granted to California late in the Biden administration, which allows the state to impose stricter emissions standards than the federal government, standards that multiple other states also follow.
“While the Biden EPA EV mandate was bad, California is much worse,” Thune said in a floor speech. “And if we don’t act, the consequences to our economy, the consumers, and to our electricity supply could be devastating.”
The Senate will consider the measure using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to repeal federal rules enacted in the final 60 legislative days of a prior administration. Although the Senate parliamentarian ruled last month that such waivers don’t qualify as “rules” under the CRA, Republicans have chosen to move forward anyway, citing their broad impact.
Although the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not submit a waiver as rules to Congress, Lee Zeldin, the current EPA administrator under President Trump, did so on February 14, 20205.
Additionally, the move to override California’s emission standards marks a departure from Senate norms, which has prompted backlash from environmental groups and industry advocates. For example, Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, called the effort “a nuclear bomb,” warning it sets a dangerous precedent by ignoring procedural boundaries.
Auto industry leaders, however, have lobbied for the waiver to be revoked. Dealers argue the mandate is unrealistic and could damage their businesses.
Nonetheless, the Senate’s measure requires only a simple majority to pass.
