The White House is once again defying the will of the people.
Donald Trump moved to overturn California’s electric vehicle mandate Thursday, marking the second instance this week in which the president has stretched his authority to advance his political agenda in the state.
California mandated a phaseout of gas vehicles and diesel trucks by 2035, citing benefits to public health and the environment. Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., followed suit. The plan required at least 35 percent of 2026 model vehicles sold within state bounds to be emissions-free, with that percentage growing to 68 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.
The Golden State passed the laws under the authority of the 1967 Clean Air Act, on the basis that the state needed more power to handle its highly polluted air and car-dependent cities. But each state requires a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency before the rules can actually take effect.
Trump’s signature on the congressional resolution revokes three of those waivers, issued during the Biden administration, effectively erasing the mandate.
“Under the previous administration, the federal government gave left-wing radicals in California dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry,” Trump told reporters ahead of the signing.
“We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating California’s electric vehicle mandate,” Trump continued, claiming that the zero-emission phaseout had been a “disaster” for the country. “And they’re never coming back.”
California officials immediately hit back, filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for intervening in state politics.
“Trump’s all-out assault on California continues—and this time he’s destroying our clean air and America’s global competitiveness in the process. We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement shortly after Trump signed the resolution.
Eight other states across the country joined the suit, including New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, Delaware, Oregon, Colorado, as well as Washington, D.C.
“Before today, over the past six decades, the EPA and Congress have never blocked any of California’s dozens of car and truck rules,” reported CalMatters.
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