Joint Resolution Passed (51-44)
51 Yea44 Nay5 Not voting1/2 required
HJRES-88-119
Became Public Law No: 119-16.
Sponsored by John Joyce (R-PA)
What it does
This law, enacted June 12, 2025, uses the Congressional Review Act to nullify the EPA's waiver that allowed California to enforce its "Advanced Clean Cars II" (ACC II) rules. Those rules required automakers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission vehicles in California, with a full phase-out of new gasoline-only car sales by 2035. By voiding the waiver, the law restores federal preemption of California's stricter vehicle emissions standards and prevents the roughly 17 other states that had adopted California's rules from enforcing them as well.
Who benefits
Automakers (particularly those with large internal combustion engine lineups) who face reduced compliance costs and fewer mandated EV sales targets. Consumers in California and adopting states who prefer gasoline-powered vehicles and may have faced limited new-car choices under ACC II. Gasoline retailers, fuel suppliers, and oil producers who benefit from continued demand for conventional vehicles. Auto dealers in affected states who may have faced inventory mandates. Workers in internal combustion engine manufacturing and supply chains.
Who is hurt
California state government, which loses authority it has held since the 1970 Clean Air Act to set stricter vehicle emissions standards. The roughly 17 states that had adopted California's ACC II rules and lose their ability to enforce them. Zero-emission vehicle manufacturers and suppliers who had planned production around ACC II mandates. EV charging infrastructure companies that anticipated accelerated EV adoption. Residents of California and adopting states who may experience higher air pollution levels than ACC II would have produced. Public health advocates focused on vehicle-related air quality.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that California's ACC II rules effectively imposed a de facto national EV mandate, since automakers must design fleets to comply with the largest state market, distorting consumer choice across all 50 states. They contend the EPA's waiver exceeded the agency's authority under the Clean Air Act, which was designed to allow California to address local smog — not to set national vehicle technology policy — and that the major questions doctrine, reinforced by West Virginia v. EPA (2022), requires clear congressional authorization before an agency can grant a waiver of such sweeping economic significance.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that California's authority to receive EPA waivers for stricter emissions standards is explicitly written into Section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act and has been granted over 100 times since 1968, making this a well-established statutory mechanism — not an agency overreach. They contend that nullifying the waiver via the Congressional Review Act sets a precedent that undermines decades of cooperative federalism, strips states of a congressionally granted tool to address local air quality, and removes market certainty that automakers had already begun building into their long-term product plans.
Constitutional context
The Clean Air Act's California waiver provision rests on Congress's Commerce Clause authority (Art. I, §8, cl. 3). The Tenth Amendment and anti-commandeering principles are relevant because the law affects states that voluntarily adopted California's standards. Post-Loper Bright (2024), courts will independently assess whether the EPA's original waiver grant was within its statutory authority, and the major questions doctrine from West Virginia v. EPA (2022) may be invoked to argue the waiver's sweeping economic scope required clearer congressional authorization than the existing Clean Air Act text provides.
Checks and balances
Congress gains authority over vehicle emissions policy by nullifying the EPA waiver; the EPA loses its delegated discretion to grant California this specific waiver, and California and adopting states lose enforcement power — though courts retain authority to review whether the Congressional Review Act was properly applied to this type of agency action.
Historical precedent
California has received EPA waivers for stricter vehicle emissions standards over 100 times since 1968 under the Clean Air Act; however, the use of the Congressional Review Act to nullify such a waiver is a novel application with no direct prior precedent.
Joint Resolution Passed (51-44)
Motion to Proceed Agreed to (51-46)
Passed