The ongoing battle between President Donald Trump and very blue California continues. This time it’s the ongoing fight over the Golden State’s EV mandates.
The latest move by the Trump administration is an attempt to eliminate certain waivers allowing California to impose these regulations.
Most of the rules were approved during the Obama and Biden administrations.
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Pulling waivers
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has turned to Congress to try and get this done.
“It is important for EPA to fulfill our statutory obligation to submit these California waivers to Congress for their review pursuant to the law,” Zeldin told The California Post.
Under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, states typically adopt their own fuel economy regulations. California was granted several exceptions.
“Now they brought in the Congress, and they’ve rescinded some of the waivers that the Congress had given,” Bruce King, professor of political science at Stanford University, told Straight Arrow.
An example of this is Advanced Clean Cars II. That was adopted by the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, in 2022.
It requires all new passenger and light truck sales be zero-emission by 2035.
The EPA, under former President Joe Biden, signed a waiver allowing California to enforce that rule.
Other regulations now being challenged by the Trump administration include the Small Offroad Engine Amendments, Advanced Clean Cars I, and Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards.
“California will not stand idle while this federal administration continues its illegal and unconstitutional actions denying Californians the right to breathe clean air,” Lauren Sanchez, chair of CARB, told Straight Arrow.
Nationwide impact
The outcome of this decision will impact the rest of the nation.
“California is such a big player in the car market that what we do in California doesn’t stay in California because it’s just too expensive for car makers and companies to make one product for the rest of the United States and another product for California,” King said.
California is the most populous state in the country and the largest car market in the U.S.
“These federal attacks create market uncertainty, drive up costs and put public health at risk,” Sanchez added.
Other states have gotten involved in this process.
In 2024, a federal court in Washington, D.C. upheld the waivers in a case known as Ohio vs. EPA.
Ohio, along with several other states, challenged the EPA’s decision to restore California’s waivers to set stricter emissions standards.
“This means that the administration, given that 2024 decision, has to figure out a way, another angle,” King said.
That angle is to go through Congress.
What’s next?
What comes next are the midterm elections.
If the GOP cannot hold onto a majority in either chamber of Congress, there’s a chance none of this will matter, and Trump won’t be able to impose this move.
“The whole thing disappears if he loses the election,” King said.
It’s going to be difficult for the Trump administration to get this done before the midterm elections, especially with California already fighting back in court over other attempts from the feds to remove these waivers.
The federal government has already sued California. In turn, California, along with some other states, has sued right back.
Overall, it’s unlikely this goes very far and represents the bigger battle of Trump versus California.
“It’s more of an in-your-face move by the Trump administration,” Dan Sperling, director emeritus of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, told Straight Arrow.
King agreed that this move is not so much about accomplishing anything as about firing up his base ahead of the midterms.
“This is more symbolic for Trump,” he said. “He’s trying to goose his base so that he doesn’t lose this midterm.”
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