Trump to sign resolution reversing California’s ban on gas-powered cars
Cars make their way heading east out of Los Angeles during the evening rush hour in January 2024.
By Shania Shelton and Chris Isidore, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign a set of resolutions Thursday to reverse California’s 2035 ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars, a White House official said.
California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley addressed the move earlier this week, writing on X that Trump would sign his resolution “to reverse California’s absurd ban on gas-powered cars.”
Several Biden-era waivers allowed California to set its own vehicle emissions, and a reversal would be another blow to the state’s effort to regulate pollution from cars and trucks.
California has had authority to set its own emissions for decades; Trump reversed it in his first term before the Biden administration reinstated it. The move could also have broad environmental impacts for the rest of the country, as more than a dozen states are following California’s emissions rules.
The Republican-led Senate overturned the three Biden-era emissions waivers in May, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom claiming last month the vote was illegal. To do so, Republicans bypassed the 60-vote threshold typically needed to approve such a measure. Democrats charged that move would weaken the long-established legislative filibuster, besides its environmental impact.
CNN has reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
Trump signed an executive order his first day in office to end the “electric vehicle mandate.” But despite his use of that term during the campaign and since taking office, there have never been any federal rules requiring consumers to buy only EVs.
But California does have emission rules that would ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Trump already tried to limit the power of California to regulate its own air pollution during his first term in office. The issue ended up in the courts, but that legal battle was put on hold after he left office and the state’s authority was restored by President Joe Biden.
This story and headline have been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg, Ella Nilsen and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
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