Republicans aren’t letting a new legal opinion from Congress’ watchdog agency get in the way of their drive to roll back California’s strict vehicle emissions standards.
The Government Accountability Office said Thursday that lawmakers can’t use the Congressional Review Act to revisit the Biden administration’s waiver for California rules — that can be followed by other states — to encourage the use of electric and other low-emission vehicles.
But Republicans in both the House and Senate say they will try anyway. They see the California regulations — which include a 2035 ban on new gasoline-powered cars — as part of what they have coined the Democrats’ electric car mandate.
“It’s not over,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told POLITICO’s E&E News following GAO’s opinion.
