Senate Republicans push to block California’s gas-powered car emissions rules
Republicans in the Senate said they could convene as early as tomorrow to vote to nix California’s waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency that allows the state to set stricter vehicle emissions rules than at the federal level.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso are expected to continue pushing to block California’s gas-powered car “ban” and emissions standards, as the chamber’s proverbial referee and a federal agency cry foul.
A vote is expected as early as Wednesday on the first of three waivers granted by the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency to Sacramento to set stricter standards than the feds, while Fox News has learned the process may take several days and through the state’s Memorial Day work period.
Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told Punchbowl he expects Democrats to “scream bloody murder” about “undermining the filibuster,” but he called the waiver reconsideration “a very narrow, novel case.”
Meanwhile, Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, expressed concern about the economic impact of California’s decision on the rest of the country.
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John Barrasso, left, John Thune, Gavin Newsom (Getty Images)
“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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Democrat 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.
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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.
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