The lawsuit would be the state’s 23rd against the Trump administration.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed Thursday to sue over efforts to stop the state’s clean vehicle program, calling it an illegal attack on California’s environmental policies.
In a 51–44 vote on May 22, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution that takes aim at California’s Clean Air Act waivers, which empower the state to enforce stricter emissions standards, such as a prohibition on new gas-powered car sales by 2035. The resolution, which was passed via the Congressional Review Act, a law enabling Congress to overturn rules implemented by federal agencies, now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to
sign it.
“We won’t stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again,” Newsom said in a statement on May 22.
Bonta
said in a statement: “The weaponization of the Congressional Review Act to attack California’s waivers is just another part of the continuous, partisan campaign against California’s efforts to protect the public and the planet from harmful pollution.”
Newsom said the Senate’s action is illegal and undermines California’s efforts to curb air pollution through the California Air Resources Board. He also said the vote, if upheld, could cost California taxpayers $45 billion in health care costs.
“This is not about electric vehicles,” Newsom
said at a news conference in Sacramento on May 22. “This is about polluters being able to pollute more.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the levels of pollutants cars can legally emit under the Clean Air Act, which takes precedence over state laws. The EPA can give waivers to states that implement stricter standards, which it has done for California more than 100 times since the Clean Air Act became law in 1970.
Republicans say the Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn rules passed by federal agencies with a simple majority vote. Democrats point to the nonpartisan
Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian, who determined that the act is not applicable to California’s waivers because they are waivers, not rules.
California’s lawsuit specifically challenges the Senate’s invocation of the Congressional Review Act, which Bonta and Newsom argue goes against previous precedent.
The
Senate vote, heavily supported by Republicans, seeks to undo California’s elimination of gas-powered cars, as well as two other clean air rules.
Republicans say the standards are too strict for automakers and expensive for consumers, leading them to introduce a resolution to
repeal the Biden administration’s most recent waiver for California.
California is home to the largest vehicle market in the country, making it a leader in how automakers develop cars and how other states adopt emissions standards.
The lawsuit is the 23rd the state has filed against the Trump administration. Other lawsuits tackle tariffs, education funding, and other policies.
