(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 move that punctuates a broader campaign to curtail California’s environmental autonomy, President Donald Trump is set to sign three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions on Thursday that will revoke the state’s ability to enforce its own vehicle emissions standards — rules that have helped shape national auto policy for more than half a century.
The signing ceremony, scheduled for 11 a.m. at the White House, marks a culmination of Republican efforts to undo Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency waivers that allowed California to mandate electric vehicle sales and impose stricter limits on tailpipe emissions from both passenger cars and commercial trucks. Also included is a rollback of heightened standards for heavy-duty diesel engines.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), two of the lawmakers behind the resolutions, confirmed the timing of the signing, which will finalize what Trump has called a necessary course correction. The CRA mechanism allows Congress to overturn agency rules within a fixed window without the threat of a Senate filibuster — a window that was closing rapidly.
The path to this point has not been straightforward. The EPA’s move earlier this year to send the waivers for Congressional review touched off weeks of internal debate among Senate Republicans. Majority Leader John Thune faced pressure from both sides of his caucus, with some members urging restraint out of deference to Senate rules. Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, backed by the Government Accountability Office, advised that the waivers weren’t subject to CRA. Ultimately, the Senate opted to proceed anyway, marking the first time in CRA’s nearly 30-year history that emissions waivers have been overturned through the fast-track process.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has vowed to challenge the decision in court, while Governor Gavin Newsom’s office issued a sharp rebuke of Trump’s actions. “We’re fighting back,” said spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor.
California’s authority to set tougher air quality standards dates back to the Nixon-era Clean Air Act of 1970, which granted the state a unique carveout due to its severe smog problems. Over the decades, that authority has been a cornerstone of California’s climate policy and a template for other states—many of which have adopted California’s standards without needing separate EPA approval.
The rollback is expected to reverberate beyond California. At least a dozen other Democratic-led states that have adopted the emissions rules could see their regulations nullified. Some, including Maryland and Vermont, had already delayed implementation amid uncertainty over the legal challenges.
Republicans and allied industry groups argue that California’s rules amount to a de facto national mandate due to the state’s economic influence and the automotive market’s reliance on uniformity. Meanwhile, Democrats have warned that the decision to override the parliamentarian’s advice could set a precedent — one they’re prepared to follow when political winds shift.
