Govind Tekale
President Donald Trump signed three congressional resolutions on Thursday that block California‘s ban on selling new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. The move immediately triggered a lawsuit from California and 10 other states challenging the federal action.
“We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate, once and for all,” Trump declared during a White House ceremony where he called California’s regulations “crazy” and “a disaster for this country.”
The congressional resolutions Trump signed will block three key California clean vehicle rules: the Advanced Clean Cars II rule (which would have banned new gas-only car sales by 2035), the Advanced Clean Trucks rule (requiring zero-emission truck sales), and standards limiting nitrogen oxide pollution from heavy-duty vehicles.
California has regulated its own vehicle emissions since the 1960s under special authority granted by the Clean Air Act. This authority allows California to set stricter standards than federal rules as long as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves them through waivers. About a dozen other states follow California’s standards, representing roughly one-third of the U.S. auto market.
At the heart of the legal dispute is whether Congress can use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block California’s EPA waivers. Both the Government Accountability Office and the Senate Parliamentarian determined that these waivers are not “rules” subject to the CRA. Despite these findings, Republicans pushed forward with the votes.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom immediately announced the state would sue the federal government, calling it an “all-out assault” on California. “We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters,” Newsom said in a statement. He also signed an executive order directing the state to develop new “Advanced Clean Cars III” regulations.
The automotive industry’s reaction has been mixed. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing major car manufacturers, applauded Trump’s action. “Everyone agreed these EV sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic,” said John Bozzella, the group’s president.
Environmental groups strongly opposed the move. Dan Becker from the Center for Biological Diversity called it “a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people’s health and their wallets.”
This is not Trump’s first clash with California over emissions standards. During his first term, he revoked California’s authority to set its own standards, but the Biden administration restored it in 2022.
The lawsuit filed by California will likely reach the Supreme Court, with significant implications for states’ rights to set environmental regulations and the federal government’s power to limit them.
