California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Thursday they will sue President Trump if he signs a measure overturning the state’s clean-air regulations, including phasing out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
They accused the U.S. Senate of illegally using the Congressional Review Act to revoke California’s waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that authorized its clean cars and trucks program. The state received the waiver last year under the Biden administration.
“What this act did was allow polluters to pollute and pollute more, impacting you, impacting all of us,” Newsom said after the Senate cleared a series of disapproval resolutions, which allow Congress to overturn certain regulations with a simple majority.
The U.S. House already passed the measures, which now head to the president for his signature. Trump campaigned on overturning the California clean car regulation and is expected to sign it.
“Spare me talking about our kids and the next generation. He’s selling them out,” Newsom said of Trump.
The state adopted Advanced Clean Cars II as a major part of its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. About a dozen other mostly Democratic-led states followed California in imposing similar regulations.
The Senate used a law known as the Congressional Review Act to repeal the waiver that California used to ban the sale of new gasoline-power cars by 2035. It also took aim at two other regulations aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions from medium and heavy-duty vehicles, and limiting smog pollution from trucks.
Oil and gas interests, which have long-criticized California energy policies and blamed them for rising energy costs, cheered the Senate vote.
“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 Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute.
The Congressional Review Act has never been used to repeal an EPA waiver. The Government Accountability Office, an independent agency that serves as the legislative branch’s investigative arm, has ruled that the EPA waivers are not rules and are not subject to that law. The Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s rules arbiter, agreed with the GAO’s ruling.
“The CRA has been in place for 30 years,” Bonta said. “It has never, ever, not once been used to apply to a waiver.”
When filed, the lawsuit will be the 23rd the state has filed against the Trump administration.