Trump Blocks California E.V. Rules in Latest Move to Rein In the State

June 12, 2025

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by Laurel Rosenhall and Lisa Friedman (New York Times) California leaders said the state intends to challenge the move in court, and to find new ways to move drivers toward electric vehicles. -- President Trump signed joint resolutions of Congress on Thursday that block California’s effort to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles, his latest attempt to reduce the power of the nation’s most populous state.

The Republican-led Congress passed the resolutions in May to reverse the Biden administration’s approval of California’s electric vehicle efforts. When signed by the president, joint resolutions revoking federal rules carry the force of law and are not subject to judicial review.

Even so, the move is expected to draw an immediate legal challenge from California, as well as an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom directing state officials to find another path that would move the state’s drivers toward electric vehicles and encourage companies to make them.

Mr. Trump signed the resolutions at a time when he was battling California on several fronts, most notably in a dispute over immigration enforcement, in which the president has sent National Guard and Marine troops to Southern California in an extraordinary use of military force.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump took aim at California’s longstanding authority under the federal Clean Air Act of 1970 to set pollution standards for the state that are more strict than federal limits, and at Governor Newsom’s ambition to fight climate change with an aggressive transition to electric vehicles. Repealing California’s automobile policy is central to Mr. Trump’s agenda of bolstering the production and use of fossil fuels in the United States, while eliminating policies that promote renewable energy and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Trump’s action reversed a Biden administration decision that allowed the state to require that electric vehicles make up a progressively larger share of new vehicles sold in California until 2035, when the state would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars entirely.

Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Trump called the California plan a “disaster” and said it “would effectively abolish the internal combustion engine, which most people prefer.”

Republican lawmakers, automobile and trucking industry leaders and oil industry executives including John B. Hess, chief executive of the Hess Corporation, were in attendance. California’s policy promoting electric vehicles would have been a major blow to the oil and gas industry.

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Rob Bonta, the state attorney general, has said he would file a lawsuit asking a federal judge to overturn the resolutions. And Mr. Newsom intends to direct his administration to develop new rules that encourage the use of electric vehicles and reward car manufacturers who agree to follow California’s plan to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles.

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“Everyone agreed these E.V. sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic,” said John Bozzella, chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major automakers. “Customers don’t want the government telling them what kind of car to buy,” he said.

For more than 50 years, the Clean Air Act has allowed California to set pollution standards that are stricter than federal rules, as long as the state obtains waivers for them from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The resolutions Mr. Trump signed on Thursday also revoke waivers for two other California clean-air policies. One blocks California from requiring that half of all new trucks sold in the state be electric by 2035. Another stops the state from putting limits on allowable emissions of nitrogen oxide from cars and trucks. Those emissions can form smog and contribute to respiratory problems like asthma.

Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations, said that ending California’s electric truck policy was “common sense,” because the policy would have forced long-haul trucks and others to transition away from diesel power far faster than the existing infrastructure for electric vehicles could support.

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The crux of the lawsuit is expected to be an allegation that Congress illegally used the Congressional Review Act to pass the resolutions that Mr. Trump signed. The 1996 act allows lawmakers to overturn rules that have been recently approved by the executive branch with a simple majority vote. Republicans asserted that the act also allowed Congress to overturn the E.P.A. waivers.

The Senate passed the resolutions over the objections of the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian and an independent watchdog, which both had ruled that lawmakers lacked the legal authority to revoke the waivers.

“This is a completely improper use of the Congressional Review Act,” Mr. Bonta said in an interview. “The Congressional Review Act applies to rules, not to waivers. It’s never been applied to any waiver, ever.”

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But the act includes a provision that could stymie California’s lawsuit, because it prohibits judicial review of actions passed under the act.

California’s ability to set tough emissions standards dates back to 1970, when heavy smog clouded the skies of Los Angeles. Since then, the state has received dozens of waivers allowing a range of policies to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Air quality has improved, but remains poor in some regions, particularly in the Central Valley. State leaders see the transition to electric cars as a tool to improve it.

California’s ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars did not apply to used vehicles, so it would not have completely eliminated them from the roads. But voter concerns about the state’s high cost of living gave Republicans and some Democrats reason to object to California’s plan, because electric vehicles tend to cost more than comparable gasoline-powered models.

The executive order that Mr. Newsom plans to sign today will direct the California Air Resources Board to come up with new ways to encourage electric vehicle use and reduce emissions, according to the governor’s office. Under it, the state would prioritize funding for E.V. rebates and will seek to develop new incentive programs. And it would steer state agencies to purchase fleet vehicles from manufacturers who agree to phase out new gasoline-powered cars. READ MORE

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Trump revokes California’s nation-leading electric vehicle mandate -- The battle over California’s authority to set vehicle emissions standards will now head to the courts. (Politico)

Excerpt from Politico: The president, in a wide-ranging speech before the signing, used the moment to hit on a range of issues, including inflation, his disdain for windmills and his recent fallout with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

“Now we know why Elon doesn’t like me so much,” Trump quipped, before saying that Musk never asked him to save EV rules and that their break was over other “smaller things.”

While the Trump administration has also gone on the offensive against federal vehicle standards, California’s regulations aimed at phasing out gas-powered passenger vehicles and heavy-duty diesel trucks — which are followed by a dozen other states — have drawn the stiffest opposition from the auto and fossil fuel industries.

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The fight over whether Congress acted lawfully will now head to the courts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month they would sue immediately after Trump signs the resolutions.

The outcome of that court case will have widespread implications, as Democratic leaders seek to wean drivers and industry off fossil fuels and hit lofty greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.

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EPA said in a statement when asked about the possibility of sanctions that it will enforce the Clean Air Act.

“EPA will continue to implement the Clean Air Act as provided in law and will continue to hope that California can get into attainment after decades of nonattainment,” the agency said.

EPA could develop its own plan for California to meet federal standards, though air quality experts say that’s unlikely because the agency would have to take unpopular steps like restricting driving.

California Air Resources Board spokesperson Lindsay Buckley said in a statement that without the waivers, the state will need to find an alternative to reach compliance.

CARB chair Liane Randolph told state lawmakers during a hearing last month that she’s “confident California will prevail in litigation,” but that could take years, during which the rules are not enforceable. READ MORE