WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a marathon battle that began Wednesday and concluded with a midmorning vote Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to overturn California vehicle emissions standards that would have phased out gas-powered vehicles in favor of electric.
Had California’s rules been allowed to stand, they would have set the precedent for a nationwide mandate for EVs, said Wyoming’s John Barrasso, the second leading Republican in the Senate.
“Washington bureaucrats will not dictate the vehicles we can drive in Wyoming or across American,” he said in a statement after Thursday’s vote.
He called the vision of eliminating combustion engines “the Democrats’ delusional dream” and that Senate Republicans “rejected their efforts to force-feed electric vehicles to every single American.”
The EPA sets national emissions standards, but under the Clean Air Act, California makes its own rules under EPA waivers, and other states are allowed to copy those rules.
According to the Congressional Research Service, 17 states and the District of Columbia have adopted ”some subset of California's standards.” Republicans say California sets de facto policy for the whole country, determining the kind of cars and trucks people are allowed to drive.
Democrats note that states are not required to copy California’s strict regulations.
But Republicans say there is a nationwide effect nonetheless. Republicans say the system — which they call the “electric vehicle mandate” — bears on auto manufacturing and pricing generally, even in states where EVs are unpopular and California’s regulations are not copied.
‘Going Nuclear’
While the California EV regulations were the underlying issue, top Democrats in the U.S. Senate accused Republicans of “going nuclear” on Thursday — stripping the minority party of the filibuster. But GOP leaders,including Barrasso, dismissed the assault as a distortion.
The session began Wednesday and ran into the middle of the night, then the battle ended midmorning Thursday.
The GOP emerged victorious, with Democrats complaining of tactics that Republicans will regret whenever control of the chamber shifts.
Democrats blasted the oil industry while Republicans trashed electric vehicles, but the battle extended beyond that realm of policymaking, reaching to the core of how the Senate operates.
“Today, the Republicans are going nuclear to appease the fossil fuel industry and at the same time, erode away the institution they profess to care about,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Wednesday, when votes were held to set up Thursday’s final vote.
U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate Republican leader, said the battle had “nothing to do with the legislative filibuster.”
He called Democrats “more than a little confused.”
Barrasso said Democrats were “huffing and puffing” and resorting to “scare tactics.”
“What their complaints are is a smokescreen to save a pillar of their Green New Deal,” Barrasso said.
Schumer and several Democrats said the battle was indeed about the filibuster and hinted at retaliation down the road.
“Democrats are in the minority today,” said U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California. “Democrats will be in the majority again someday.
“What comes around, goes around.”
Nuclear Option
“Going nuclear,” also known as using the “nuclear option,” is a longstanding reference to abolishing the Senate filibuster.
Filibuster is the tool that the minority party in the Senate uses to block legislation if bipartisan support is lacking. It means that 60 votes instead of a simple majority of 51 are needed to advance a bill, though it cannot be used with certain types of legislation.
The GOP now holds a 53-47 edge in the Senate.
Procedural Dispute
Senate Republicans used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to throw out the EPA’s most recent waiver for California pertaining to light-duty cars, trucks and SUVs.
Under this waiver, California’s system calls for a phase-out of gasoline-powered vehicles, requiring all new vehicles sold by 2035 to have zero emissions.
House and Senate Republicans in the current Congress have frequently used the CRA to throw out rules, something that does not require a filibuster-proof 60 votes.
But in this case, the Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the EPA waiver is not a rule subject to the CRA. On that basis, Democrats demanded regular procedure, requiring the GOP to find 60 votes.
The GOP did not go along with that.
The final vote Thursday on the legislation to throw out the air regulations was 51-44, with five senators not voting. A series of party-line votes to set up passage was held Wednesday.
“This is a pretty sad day in the history of the Senate,” U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, said Wednesday.
The GOP-controlled House passed the measure to overturn the waiver early this month.
‘Punishing’ To Workers, Economy
The Republicans insisted the EPA waiver was in fact a rule, while Democrats said it was legislative in nature because the Clean Air Act allows the EPA to grant the waivers.
Barrasso said Democrats were avoiding the underlying issue.
“Why are Democrats so darn desperate to talk about anything and everything except what these punishing rules will actually do to America, American workers and the American economy?” he said Wednesday.
He also portrayed Democrats as hypocrites, saying all of them have frowned upon the filibuster rule in prior years.
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
