Senate GOP vows vote to end Biden EPA waiver granted to push drivers to EV cars

Senate Republicans indicated that they intend to vote this week on whether to nix California's emissions waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has allowed the blue state to adopt stricter vehicle emissions standards than those imposed at the federal level, including a mandate that all vehicles sold in the state must be electric by 2035. 

The planned vote sets up a battle between Republicans and Democrats over whether the waiver is a government "rule" subject to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to get rid of regulations with just a simple majority, as opposed to the typical 60-votes required to pass a bill. Democrats have described the GOP maneuvering as a "nuclear option" aimed at upending formal Senate rules.

"The administration says it's a rule. The GAO has said it's not. The United States Senate is going to be heard from on this issue tomorrow and do something that will avoid, again, what I think and what a lot of people across this country think, would be a catastrophic outcome – and that is an EV mandate that would be imposed, across the United States," Senate Majority Leader Thune said during a press conference from the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. 

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom's ambitious electric vehicle agenda is getting pushback from House Republicans. (Shutterstock/Getty Images/Smith Collection)

The waiver, which gives California officials latitude to make their vehicle emissions standards stricter than those at the federal level, also allows other states to choose whether they want to follow federal standards or California's stricter ones. 

"Obviously, the Democrats are going to make a lot of noise," Thune added during the Tuesday afternoon press conference, referring to the party's criticism of Republicans' procedural maneuvering. 

"But the truth of the matter is, this has nothing to do with the legislative filibuster," Thune continued. "This is the Congress and the United States Senate submitting to the body the question of whether or not the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, ought to be able to determine for us what it is and isn't a rule."

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian who interprets and advises on the congressional rules officials must follow, agreed with the Government Accountability Office's determination that California's EPA waiver is not considered a "rule." The discrepancy has led Democrats to claim Republicans are attempting to upend the Senate filibuster, an important tool for the minority party to gain leverage in the legislative process. 

However, during Tuesday's short press conference, Thune slammed Democrats for complaining about the GOP's maneuvering around the filibuster, pointing out they have tried to knock it down themselves in the past when convenient for their party's priorities.

Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress is set to begin Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"The only people that have attempted to get rid of a legislative filibuster, the Democrats, every single one of them up there that's popping off and spouting off, has voted, voted literally to get rid of the legislative filibuster," Thune said in response to a reporter's question about Democrats' criticism.

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"This is a novel and narrow issue that deals with the Government Accountability Office and whether, or not, they ought to be able to determine what is a rule and what isn't, or whether the administration and the Congress ought to be able to make that decision."