(Image Credit: IMAGN) This Tesla Model 3 sedan, owned by a Silicon Valley resident and rented out on peer-to-peer site Turo, represents the company's attempt to move electric vehicles into the mainstream market.
Washington D.C. – In a contentious move that marks the latest flashpoint in the battle over climate policy and states’ rights, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to bar California from enforcing its landmark ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. The 246–164 vote, backed by the Republican majority and joined by 35 Democrats, escalates an effort to undercut one of the most ambitious state-level policies aimed at accelerating the transition to electric vehicles.
The vote follows similar action taken Wednesday, when the House moved to block two other California initiatives: a mandate requiring an increasing percentage of zero-emission medium and heavy-duty trucks, and a plan to reduce smog levels. All three efforts were authorized under federal waivers granted by the Biden administration through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the 1970 Clean Air Act.
The legality of Congress intervening in these waivers is now under intense scrutiny. The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, and the Government Accountability Office have both ruled that California’s waivers are not regulations subject to repeal under the Congressional Review Act, the mechanism Republicans are attempting to use. That ruling casts doubt on whether the Senate can legally proceed with a vote.
California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the House vote as “lawless” and a direct attack on states’ rights. “Trump Republicans are hellbent on making California smoggy again,” Newsom said, accusing fossil fuel interests of hijacking the Republican agenda. “Clean air didn’t used to be political,” he added.
Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, vowed resistance. “We will fight this latest attack on California’s power to protect its own residents,” he said.
California’s vehicle emissions policy, adopted by 11 other states, requires that 100 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen-powered by 2035. Already a leader in electric vehicle adoption—25 percent of new cars sold in 2024 were zero-emission—the state wields significant influence over national auto trends.
Critics argue California is effectively setting de facto national policy. “California should not be allowed to dictate national policy,” said Representative John Joyce, Republican of Pennsylvania. The oil and gas industry applauded the House action, calling California’s ban “unlawful” and “overreach.” Major automakers, represented by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, also supported the move, calling California’s regulations unrealistic and damaging to jobs.
The matter now shifts to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune has yet to indicate whether he will bring the resolutions to a vote. The outcome may signal how aggressively Republicans plan to use procedural tools to advance Donald Trump’s climate and energy agenda should he return to office.
“California’s authority and responsibility to regulate its own pollution is enshrined in federal law,” Schiff said, noting the state has received hundreds of waivers since the Clean Air Act passed. “Until now, not one had ever been subject to a vote in Congress.”
