Washington — The U.S. Senate passed a measure Thursday canceling California regulations that would have required a 100% transition to electric vehicles for new car and truck models in many states by 2035.
The vote on the Congressional Review Act measure passed 51-44 along mostly party lines, with all Republicans present voting in favor. Michigan Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Holly joined the GOP in supporting the measure.
"Today, I voted to prevent California and the states that follow its standard from effectively banning gas-powered cars by 2035. Michigan is the auto capital of the world, and as Michigan’s U.S. Senator, I have a special responsibility to stand up for the more than one million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the U.S. auto industry," she said in a statement.
Other Democrats had criticized the legislation in recent weeks less for its substance and more for Republicans' decision to hold a vote at all, overruling the Senate's nonpartisan arbiter of chamber procedures along the way.
The measure, approved with a simple majority via the CRA, next moves to President Donald Trump's desk for approval. The Republican leader is all but certain to sign it into law after repeatedly bashing "EV mandates" on the campaign trail in automotive-heavy Michigan last year.
Much of the debate over the measure Wednesday and Thursday centered around parliamentary procedures and the Senate's longstanding filibuster rules, which effectively set a 60-vote threshold for most actions to pass.
The impact on the auto industry will be immense. California has long set nation-leading standards for vehicle tailpipe emissions that force companies to consider stricter state environmental policies on top of more lax federal regulations. Now, automakers — barring a successful legal challenge to the Senate's action — will be spared from California's latest rules, its strictest yet.
Thirteen states had voluntarily adopted the rules with the goals of fighting climate change, improving air quality and pushing American automakers to build electric cars and trucks that better compete with China's surging EV prowess. Some states, however, had begun to pull back on their pledges amid lower-than-hoped-for EV sales.
The measure's passage is a blow to California's rule-setting authority and a victory for companies seeking more regulatory flexibility.
Industry reaction
The U.S. auto industry lobbied heavily to have the waiver overturned, claiming that the strict rules would represent an existential threat to automakers and dealerships. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the top automotive lobbying group in Washington, immediately celebrated the measure's passage.
"The fact is these EV sales mandates were never achievable," said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the alliance. "Automakers warned federal and state policymakers that reaching these EV sales targets would take a miracle, especially in the coming years when the mandates get exponentially tougher."
He continued: "The Senate (and the House before it) deserve enormous credit. Instead of kicking the can down the road or waiting for regulatory failure and its consequences, they voted to restore a degree of balance to U.S. vehicle emissions regulations.
"The auto industry has invested billions in electrification and has 144 electrified models on the market right now. Again, the concerns were about the mandate not the technology. You can be against the (California) EV mandates ... and believe that transportation is trending toward a range of electrified products like battery electric vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids)."
Two top oil and gas lobbying groups, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute, also applauded the Senate's action.
“Today, the United States Senate delivered a victory for American consumers, manufacturers, and U.S. energy security by voting to overturn the prior administration’s EPA rule authorizing California’s gas car ban and preventing its spread across our country,” said the group’s presidents, Chet Thompson and Mike Sommers, in a joint statement.
They continued: “Congress has made clear that California regulators have no authority to dictate what cars Americans can buy or to ban internal combustion engine vehicles. President Trump can now deliver on a major part of his campaign promise to end EV mandates in the United States.”
Environmentalists, meanwhile, denounced the move on its merits and on procedure.
“Senate Republicans just voted to break the law and increase asthma, lung cancer and cardiac deaths,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign. “Robbing California of its clean air protections is a fundamental betrayal of democracy. This vote is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people’s health and their wallets.”
Even though Michigan is not among the states that had pledged to follow California's standards, the fate of the regulations was a question with billions of dollars at stake for the Detroit Three automakers over the next decade.
Detroit-based General Motors Co. cheered the prospect of a vote earlier in the week: “GM believes in customer choice, and we continue to focus on offering the best and broadest portfolio of vehicles on the market," spokesperson Bill Grotz said in a Tuesday statement. "GM has long supported one national standard and consistency in emissions regulations that are aligned with market realities; the CRA measure would help ensure this.”
Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. also praised the move. “In America, the customer chooses, and we need national emissions standards that not only drive progress but also reflect market realities," said Ford spokesperson Robyn Jackson in a Tuesday statement.
"We also need to preserve tax policies that recognize the future of the global automotive industry is up for grabs, and that domestic manufacturing and home-grown innovation are how the United States will win," she added, a reference to automotive tax credits House Republicans have proposed cutting.
