By Austin Alonzo
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a package of resolutions to block California’s landmark vehicle emissions mandates.
He signed three resolutions previously passed by Congress under the Congressional Review Act.
The measures overturn California’s plans to phase out the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, roll back its low-nitrogen oxide regulations for heavy-duty trucks, and rescind an Environmental Protection Agency waiver granted in December 2023 allowing the state to enforce stricter vehicle emissions standards.
A White House signing ceremony included top administration officials such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, as well as members of Congress and representatives from the energy, trucking and auto industries.
Additionally, California is considering the establishment of zero-emission standards on medium and heavy-duty trucks and implementing stricter controls on nitrogen oxide emissions.
The move will likely intensify a longstanding power struggle between the federal government and the Golden State over environmental policy and differences in state and federal policy priorities.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is feuding with the White House over Washington’s approach toward prolonged civil unrest in Los Angeles.
Newsom vowed to challenge the resolutions in court, arguing the moves are illegal and will tag California taxpayers with an estimated $45 billion in additional health care costs.
Representatives of Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Legal questions loom over Congress’s authority to revoke a state-level law.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, previously determined that the Congressional Review Act cannot be used to block California’s vehicle emissions standards.
The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, agreed with that assessment.
California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule, introduced in 2020 and reaffirmed by the Biden administration in 2023, mandates that 80% of new vehicles sold in the state be battery-powered electric by 2035, with the remaining 20% composed of plug-in hybrids.
Similar policies have been adopted in 11 other states, which cumulatively represent about a third of the U.S. auto market.
In a prepared statement, leading automaker General Motors said it appreciated that the move would “help align emissions standards with today’s market realities.”
“We have long advocated for one national standard that will allow us to stay competitive, continue to invest in U.S. innovation, and offer customer choice across the broadest lineup of gas-powered and electric vehicles,” the GM statement said.
In the past month, General Motors announced it would ramp up U.S. production of gas-powered internal combustion engine cars.
On Tuesday, it said it would spend $4 billion over the next two years to increase the output of its most popular vehicles at plants in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee.
In a May announcement, GM said that it plans to spend $888 million to augment its production of internal combustion engines to go into its full-sized trucks and SUVs.
Revoking the California requirements will likely exert further downward pressure on the electric vehicle market.
In April, Cox Automotive estimated that new electric vehicle sales made up less than 7% of overall new vehicle sales and less than 7% of overall used sales.
The move was also cheered by representatives of the trucking industry and America’s energy industry.
In a prepared statement, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers called Thursday’s actions “a major victory for American consumers, manufacturers and U.S. energy security.”
“We thank President Trump and Congress for delivering on their promise to put an end to these extreme mandates and ensure every American can choose the vehicle that’s best for them,” Sommers said in a statement.
The American Petroleum Institute is the largest U.S. trade association representing the interests of the oil and natural gas industry in Washington.
Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, called California’s policies “crippling” and “detached from reality.”
The American Trucking Associations is the leading trade association representing the trucking industry in the United States.
“This is not the United States of California,” Spear said in a prepared statement.
