House Votes to Prohibit California From Banning Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars by 2035

The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to repeal a Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency waiver that allowed California to ban the selling of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles by 2035.

The vote was 246 to 164, with 35 Democrats crossing party lines to join all 211 Republicans who were present in support of the joint resolution. The measure now goes to the Senate, where under the Congressional Review Act it would only need 51 votes, rather than the usual 60-vote filibuster-proof majority, to pass. 

The House also voted to rescind waivers granted to the Golden State regarding the regulation of new diesel vehicles and mandating that more heavy trucks be electric.

The Government Accountability Office recommended that California’s waivers do not actually fall under the purview of regulations that can be undone under the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian has also said that the waivers do not count as a rule. The parliamentarian’s judgment can be ignored by the Senate, however. 

“The House of Representatives just passed my Resolution to stop California’s insane gas-car ban. It was a bipartisan vote,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., one of the joint resolution’s co-sponsors, posted on X.

The congressman called passage of the measure “a major victory for common sense and a massive humiliation for [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom.”

California’s internal combustion engine ban originated in a regulation called the “Advanced Clean Cars II” propagated by the California Air Resources Board. The board is a California government agency whose voting members are primarily appointed by the California governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

Newsom had directed the board to develop regulations for emission guidelines. The board’s regulation mandated that 100% of new passenger vehicles sold in California be zero-emission by 2035, thus leading to a de facto ban on gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.

However, the California regulation had implications beyond the ultra-blue state itself. Under the Clean Air Act, other states can adopt California’s standards if those standards are granted an exemption by the EPA. About a dozen states have adopted California’s future ban on the most common kind of car engine. As such, about 30 percent of the automobile market in the U.S. is regulated by what California does.

The House’s actions come after years of dispute between political factions. The first Trump administration had the EPA revoke a waiver granting the state the power to set its car standards. The Biden administration subsequently reversed course and granted the state its waiver, plus an additional one once it updated standards. If the Senate passes the joint resolution, it could put an end to the back and forth between administrations, because rules that are undone under the Congressional Review Act cannot be issued again without Congress passing legislation.

Reacting to the decision, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said in a statement, “Today’s vote is a big win for drivers, businesses, and consumers across the country. California’s extreme emissions mandates would have made cars and trucks more expensive and less available for everyone, not just in our state, but nationwide.”

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