Earthjustice Responds: Senate Overturns Waiver for States’ Car and Truck Standards in Unlawful Maneuver that Breaks Senate Rules

Today, Senate Republicans abused the Congressional Review Act in an unlawful maneuver to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers for three state car and truck standards. This has never been done in the history of the Clean Air Act and the Congressional Review Act. In the course of the vote, Republican senators pushed aside the rules of the Senate and overrode the Senate Parliamentarian, who concluded in April that the waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act.

“Senator Republicans abused the law and broke their own institutional rules with a reckless vote today to sideline states’ zero-emissions standards,” said Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice. “While our Republican leaders may try to put the horse back in the barn when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), the world has already shifted under their feet. More than one in four cars sold in the world this year will be electric. States still hold their authority under the Clean Air Act to pass more protective tailpipe standards — and they should move quickly to shape new standards after today’s vote. We all deserve the choice to go electric, and we can’t afford to be left behind by politicians who are turning their backs on the best new technologies.”

The world is on course for more than one in four cars sold this year to be electric this year, surpassing 20 million electric vehicles. States like Colorado and California are following suit with EVs making up a quarter of new car registrations in 2024 — and their residents are gaining the clean air and economic benefits that come with the shift.

The vote today not only overrode the senate parliamentarian, but also the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which concluded in 2023 and reiterated in March of 2025 that EPA’s waivers under the Clean Air Act are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. The GAO, often called the “congressional watchdog,” is an independent agency that works for Congress, examining how taxpayer dollars are spent and providing Congress and federal agencies with fact-based information to help government work efficiently.

The stronger tailpipe standards that states choose to adopt to protect their residents provide billions in economic benefits and public health savings, and save thousands of lives from the heart and lung problems associated with tailpipe pollution. The three state standards attacked today are the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, and the Heavy-duty Omnibus rule. These standards have been slated to save the public an estimated $45 billion in health costs in California alone.

Smog clogs the air around the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. (Andi Patz / Getty Images)

Nearly 50 years ago, Congress protected California’s right to adopt standards more protective than the federal government’s regulations in order to address the state’s deadly smog and air quality crisis. After EPA grants a waiver for California’s regulations under the Clean Air Act, other states whose air quality has violated federal standards can choose to adopt California’s more protective regulations for the health of their own residents. So far, over a dozen states have chosen to adopt more protective standards this way in a balanced process that has stood for over five decades.