The Senate on Wednesday shot down a Democratic-led attempt to stop the Trump administration from loosening power plant mercury emissions standards.
S.J. Res. 188, from Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), failed to advance 46-53 along party lines. All Democrats voted in favor of advancing the legislation and Republicans against.
The Congressional Review Act resolution would have reinstated former President Joe Biden’s update of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for the coal- and oil-fired electricity sector. President Donald Trump rolled back the update in February.
Biden’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rules, finalized in 2024, strengthened emissions standards, including for lignite-burning plants that had been allowed more mercury emissions.
