The Senate voted to overturn California’s Environmental Protection emissions waiver Thursday, which would have allowed Democrats to set stricter vehicle emissions standards in the state than those imposed by the federal government, such as a mandate to phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
The vote passed along party lines Thursday. The EPA waiver in question would have not only given California officials latitude to make their vehicle emissions standards stricter than those at the federal level, but also would have effectively allowed other states to choose whether they want to adopt stricter vehicle emissions standards as well, Republicans argued.
The vote only required a simple majority to be passed, as the Senate chose to issue its change under the Congressional Review Act. Republicans said this was allowable because the waivers were considered a rule, but the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan official who guides senators on the chamber’s rules, disagreed after a finding by the Government Accountability Office.
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Senate Republican Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told Punchbowl he expected Democrats to “scream bloody murder” about “undermining the filibuster,” but he called the waiver reconsideration “a very narrow, novel case.”
Meanwhile, Sen John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, expressed concern about the economic impact of California’s decision on the rest of the country.
“Democrats have a delusional dream to eliminate gas-powered vehicles. The rest of us live in the real world. In the real world, gas-powered vehicles keep our farms running, our businesses thriving and our economy moving,” he said on the Senate floor.
“This is not just a California problem. It is a nationwide assault on gas-powered cars in America. The California mandates cover nearly 40% of all new cars in America,” he added.
Other critics have pointed to how California’s size and population mean its actions often have wide-ranging effects outside its borders.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, put forward a resolution in April to undo the waivers, which set off the current controversy.
The Senate’s nonpartisan procedural referee later indicated her belief the waivers are not specifically subject to the 1996 law that allows Congress to review and ultimately block new executive branch rules.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, an appointee of the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., nodded to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) response given to complaining Democrats, which determined the waivers weren’t the same as other environmental rules Republicans have successfully overturned through the Congressional Review Act.
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Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, along with Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla of California, inquired with the GAO in March, and more recently a handful of Republicans also reportedly have concerns going through with the votes, including Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah.
Curtis told Semafor he supports undoing the waivers but was apprehensive about the planned procedure.
“It’s very important we get it right and that we make sure that we’re not setting a precedent we’re uncomfortable with,” Curtis said last week.
Barrasso said the GAO has “no veto power over the Senate.”
“Not from the Congressional Review Act, not under the Senate rules, not under Senate precedent,” he said.
Padilla separately wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Republicans pressing ahead would set a bad precedent.
Senate Rules Committee Chair Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former longtime caucus leader who is now a rank-and-file member, has been a longstanding proponent of Senate procedure.
He dismissed Democrats’ arguments that voting to disregard the Senate parliamentarian on the issue would amount to weakening the filibuster or setting such a new precedent for what’s considered to be a federal rule.
Fox News Digital reached out to McConnell for his take on the controversy and was directed to a Punchbowl report laying out his support for Thune’s move behind the scenes.
While known for occasionally disagreeing with his caucus, particularly later in the Trump years, McConnell reportedly rejected Democrats’ claims that blocking the waivers weakens the filibuster, a procedural move he has long supported.
The party elder’s support for bucking the parliamentarian may be what the GOP needs to see the waiver-blocking votes come to fruition.
A motion-to-proceed to a vote on the first waiver was to be held at 11:30 a.m. ET, but official votes on the Congressional Review Act rescissions were not yet on the docket as of Wednesday afternoon.
Fox News Digital reached out to Curtis as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom for comment.
When reached for comment, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office pointed Fox Business to recent statements, including remarks that portrayed the current situation as a “choice” for the Senate:
“[C]ede American car-industry dominance to China and clog the lungs of our children, or follow decades of precedent and uphold the clean air policies that Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon fought so hard for. Will you side with China or America?” Newsom asked.
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