The week just passed was a rough one for California Governor Gavin Newsom. Early in the week, Newsomâs complete lack of leadership in his home state combined with a similar dereliction of duty by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to justify President Donald Trumpâs move to activate both the National Guard and 700 U.S. Marines to move into downtown Los Angeles to control escalating riots there.
As if that werenât humiliating enough, President Trump held a White House ceremony Thursday during which he signed a series of three resolutions passed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) designed to kill Californiaâs electric vehicle (EV) mandate which has been a centerpiece of Newsomâs regulatory policies.
âUnder the previous administration, the federal government gave left-wing radicals in California dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry all over the country,â Trump said in remarks preceding the signing. âItâs been a disaster for this country.â
In response, Newsom said in a statement, âThe weaponization of the Congressional Review Act to attack Californiaâs waivers is just another part of the continuous, partisan campaign against Californiaâs efforts to protect the public and the planet from harmful pollution.â Itâs pretty weak sauce, but itâs all he has at this point.
Well, except for another round of lawfare, that is. Within minutes of Trumpâs affixing his signature (no autopen involved) to the resolutions, California Attorney General Rob Bonta had filed a lawsuit challenging the resolutions in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Bonta was joined by Democrat attorneys general from 10 other states.
KCRA Channel 3 TV in Sacramento pointed out that this suit is the 26th time Bonta has sued the Trump administration since January. Bonta admitted during his press conference that his office has already spent $5 million in pursuing its Trump-focused lawfare agenda, but no worries: The state assembly recently authorized a $25 million boost to Bontaâs budget to continue his Quixotic strategy.
The resolutions signed by Trump will do the following:
repeal a waiver under the clean air act issued by the Biden EPA in 2023 which allows California to mandate all new cars sold by 2035 be what the California Air Resources Board (CARB) classifies as âzero emissions vehicles,â or ZEVs;
block rules requiring zero-emission sales targets for commercial trucks; and
eliminate higher standards for heavy-duty diesel engines to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution.
The central claim in Bontaâs lawsuit is that Congressâs use of the CRA to revoke Californiaâs Clean Air Act waivers is unprecedented and illegal. Enacted in 1996, the CRA gives congress authority to revoke regulations that are finalized by an outgoing administration. Passed on a bipartisan vote of congress, it is designed to limit the exact sort of effort witnessed in the final months of the Biden administration to shove through as many new regulations as possible before leaving office.
CRA actions are exempt from the Senate filibuster and not subject to judicial review. However, because the CRA has rarely been invoked since it became law, it has never previously been used to rescind a waiver issued by EPA or any other federal regulator. Bonta is banking on the federal courts being willing to intervene based on an argument that the issuance of a waiver does not constitute a regulatory action. While what weâve seen over the last five months indicates a likelihood that Bonta and his fellow plaintiffs will be able to shop for a district court judge who will be willing to issue a temporary injunction, their prospects of prevailing at the appellate level or the U.S. Supreme Court seem dim.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who authored one of the resolutions, frames the issue as a defense of consumer choice, telling Politico, âThese mandates force Americans into vehicles they donât want or canât afford, all while ignoring the realities of our grid and supply chains.â The reality is that few Americans really want to buy EVs, which is the motivator for Newsomâs attempt to force them.
Itâs all bad news for Gov. Newsom, who has been relegated to a complaining bystander in his own state as others act to address problems of his own creation. Thatâs no way to run a state, Governor.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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