Congressional Democrats slammed President Donald Trump’s proposed rollback of auto efficiency standards Wednesday, while Republicans wholeheartedly supported the move.
With the GOP holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, Democratic opposition is unlikely to affect the plans from the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Still, Democrats will try to make their voices heard on the matter.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), long a champion of the major automakers that call her state home, said the rollback threatens certainty for the industry.
“I think the automobile industry needs certainty. I think they’re tired of being a pingpong ball between administrations. The American industry needs stability,” she told POLITICO’s E&E News.
“All the stakeholders need to be at the table, and we need to not make cars more expensive for people to run. So let’s give stability to the auto industry and not help the oil industry.”
Numerous auto executives, including from Ford Motor and Stellantis, joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday to announce the proposal, including from Ford Motor and Stellantis.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, called the move one of Trump’s “regulatory gifts to his corrupt fossil fuel megadonors.”
“Trump is, yet again, choosing his billionaire buddies over the American people,” he said in a statement. “Thanks to his relentless attacks on cleaner vehicles, thousands of auto workers have lost their jobs, America has lagged back in international competition, and we’ll all be saddled with more pollution, higher costs, and worse vehicles.”
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, similarly argued Trump is raising costs for drivers.
“The June 2024 [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards lowered costs for Americans at the pump, made our air cleaner and more breathable, and reduced pollution to combat climate change,” said Pallone.
Today’s announcement once again shows the Trump Administration is more concerned with lining the pockets of their polluter friends than providing relief to hardworking Americans.”
A number of Republicans attended the White House announement, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who sponsored a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to reduce automaker penalties for violating efficiency rules to $0.
“This is a victory today for consumers. This is a victory for affordability,” Cruz said. “Under Joe Biden and the Democrats, they put mandate after mandate after mandate on cars and trucks and they drove the prices up thousands and thousands of dollars.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, agreed.
“By making [cars] more affordable, making them more choice-driven by what families want and need, today is a great day for the American family,” she said.
“Democrats have used many different avenues, from blue state legislation to regulations at the EPA and Department of Transportation, to repeatedly attempt to force a transition to EVs that many Americans don’t want to buy,” Capito said in a statement after the White House event, adding that the standards “placed unnecessary burdens and higher prices on consumers.”
Trump invited to the event a number of lawmakers who currently own auto dealerships or used to, such as Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Roger Williams (R-Texas), and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
“This is huge for the dealer body, the local car dealer. We’re going to be able to sell what the customer wants, the manufacturer’s going to make what the customer wants,” Williams said.
Reporter Nico Portuondo contributed.
