Senate Parliamentarian Rules Against Republicans’ Attempt to Stop California’s Ban on Gasoline-Powered Cars by 2035

The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Friday that Republicans in Congress cannot use an obscure legislative maneuver to stop California’s ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. This decision dealt a blow to efforts by the Trump administration to quickly kill policies that promote electric vehicles.

California had received a federal waiver under the 1970 Clean Air Act from the Biden administration to impose a stricter automobile emissions standard than the one set by the federal government. Under that waiver, it enacted a plan to require all new cars sold in the state by 2035 to be free of emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, the primary contributor to climate change.

This ambitious climate policy in the United States is designed to shift the auto industry toward electric cars, making it a top target for elimination by the Trump administration. However, the parliamentarian ruled that the waiver granted to California was not subject to the Congressional Review Act, which permits lawmakers to reverse recently-adopted regulations with a simple majority vote.

California’s two Democratic senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, announced the decision as a victory for climate policies. Mr. Padilla emphasized that Congress explicitly granted California the ability to set more stringent vehicle emissions standards to protect public health from the state’s unique air quality challenges.

The Trump administration submitted the automobile waiver to Congress along with two other California waivers approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last year. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, decided that the rules would not allow Republicans to fast-track the repeal of the waiver.

California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed satisfaction with the Senate’s rejection of the Trump administration’s effort to repeal the state’s standards through the Congressional Review Act. He highlighted California’s authority to set world-leading clean car and truck standards that promote innovation, grow the economy, and protect communities from pollution.

As the fifth-biggest economy in the world, California exerts significant market influence, with eleven other states planning to follow its lead and ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Republicans argued that the auto waiver was setting a de facto national policy due to California’s economic clout, but previous decisions by the Government Accountability Office found otherwise.

Lawmakers have the option to bypass the Senate parliamentarian, as they have done before, to pass a separate budget and tax bill through the chamber. The House could still vote to overturn the waivers and pressure the Senate to act. Republican lawmakers introduced resolutions to overturn California’s three waivers, but time is limited as Congress has 60 days from the day a rule goes into effect to pass a resolution invalidating it.

If Republicans in the Senate choose to adhere to the parliamentarian’s decision, the options for quickly killing the California policy are limited. The administrator of the EPA could withdraw the waiver, but that would require months of public notice and comment. The EPA criticized the California waiver as imposing onerous, costly, and unnecessary regulations.

Overall, the ruling by the Senate parliamentarian represents a significant win for California’s climate policies and sets the stage for continued efforts to combat air pollution and promote clean energy initiatives.