President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans scored a major policy victory on Thursday by ending California’s long-standing authority to dictate national vehicle emissions standards.
This marks a turning point in the battle over the future of American manufacturing and energy independence. Under President Biden, the EPA had granted California special waivers under the Clean Air Act, allowing the state to impose aggressive environmental rules that extended well beyond its borders.
One of those rules? A mandate requiring that nearly every vehicle sold in California be electric by 2035. Through this waiver system, the Biden administration enabled California to bypass Congress and push extreme climate policies as part of what critics call the “Green New Scam.”
The move didn’t just affect California. Thanks to Biden’s waiver, over a dozen states and the District of Columbia followed California’s lead, creating a patchwork of rigid and costly regulations. These changes reshaped the auto and RV industries nationwide—without a single vote from Congress.
In effect, unelected officials in California were setting national standards, and most Americans had no say. “Knowing that the people’s representatives in Congress would reject their most extreme policies, the Biden administration had to rely on these workarounds,” the article states.
That power grab is over. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., led the charge in the House to reverse the EPA’s waivers, introducing three disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act. Senate Republicans, under the leadership of Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pushed the measures through their chamber.
On Thursday, President Trump signed those resolutions into law, officially ending California’s emissions carve-out. It’s a move Trump and Republicans say will restore fairness, boost U.S. manufacturing, and stop bureaucrats from sidelining the American people.
With this reversal, vehicle manufacturers now answer to a unified national standard instead of a fragmented, state-by-state system. Trump hailed the decision as a key win for American workers and consumers alike.