Thirty-five House Democrats are rebuking the Biden administration’s 11th-hour waiver that cleared a path for California to enact a full ban on gas cars by 2035.
A Republican resolution aimed at repealing the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) move passed by a 246 to 164 vote on Thursday morning.
Notably, two California House Democrats were among the 35 who voted to rescind their own state’s clean energy waiver – Reps. Lou Correa and George Whitesides.
Other Democrats in the number include Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.
It was a stunning repudiation of their own former party leader’s policies targeting one of Democrats’ largest strongholds.
Republican leaders, meanwhile, cheered the resolution’s passage.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said of the California waiver, ‘This radical measure bans the sale of gas-powered vehicles, forcing electric vehicles on the American people and taking away consumer choice.’
‘Americans should choose which car best suits their needs and the needs of their family, not the government,’ Scalise told Fox News Digital.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said, ‘There is no reason the radical climate policies of California should regulate the entire American population and rob every American of consumer choice.’
‘House Republicans are righting yet another wrong done by the Biden administration and returning basic freedom to choose whatever car you want to the American people,’ Emmer told Fox News Digital.
Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., vice chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, introduced a resolution of disapproval last month targeting a Biden administration-era waiver granted to California that would help the state realize its goal of a full ban on the sale of new gas cars by 2035.
A resolution of disapproval, under the Congressional Review Act, allows lawmakers a mechanism to oppose unilateral rules made by federal agencies.
Biden’s EPA approved a waiver for California in December 2024, just over a month before he left office, that would make it possible for the state to phase out new gas-powered car sales by 2035.
The waiver was granted despite concerns raised by major automakers earlier that year about the feasibility of California’s goals – but state officials pushing the plan have insisted it was critical to take on climate change.
At the time, the Biden administration argued the waiver amounted to an order rather than a regulatory rule, meaning it would not be subject to congressional review.
However, it has been the subject of a standoff between the Trump administration and the federal bureaucracy since then.
The Trump administration asked Congress to review the waiver in late February of this year – paving the way for a potential repeal under the GOP-controlled House and Senate.
However, the Government Accountability Office said in March that California’s waiver is not subject to the Congressional Review Act.