Trump is expected to sign a measure blocking California's nation-leading
vehicle emissions rules
[June 12, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and SOPHIE AUSTIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to sign a measure
Thursday that blocks California’s first-in-the-nation rule banning the
sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, a White House official told The
Associated Press.
The resolution Trump plans to sign, which Congress approved last month,
aims to quash the country’s most aggressive attempt to phase out
gas-powered cars. He also plans to approve measures to overturn state
policies curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming
nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks.
The timing of the signing was confirmed Wednesday by a White House
official who spoke on condition of anonymity to share plans not yet
public.
The development comes as the Republican president is mired in a clash
with California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, over Trump's move
to deploy troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests.
It's the latest in an ongoing battle between the Trump administration
and heavily Democratic California over everything from tariffs to the
rights of LGBTQ+ youth and funding for electric vehicle chargers.
“If it’s a day ending in Y, it’s another day of Trump’s war on
California,” Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said in an email.
"We’re fighting back."
According to the White House official, Trump is expected to sign
resolutions that block California’s rule phasing out gas-powered cars
and ending the sale of new ones by 2035. He will also kill rules that
phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles and cut
tailpipe emissions from trucks.
The president is scheduled to sign the measures and make remarks during
an event at the White House on Thursday morning.
Newsom, who is considered a likely 2028 Democratic presidential
candidate, and California officials contend that what the federal
government is doing is illegal and said the state plans to sue.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin are expected to
attend, along with members of Congress and representatives from the
energy, trucking and gas station industries.
The signings come as Trump has pledged to revive American auto
manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling.
The move will also come a day after the Environmental Protection Agency
proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power
plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Zeldin said it would remove
billions of dollars in costs for industry and help “unleash” American
energy.
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California, which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution, has
been able to seek waivers for decades from the EPA, allowing it to
adopt stricter emissions standards than the federal government.
In his first term, Trump revoked California’s ability to enforce its
standards, but President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has
not yet sought to revoke it again.
Republicans have long criticized those waivers and earlier this year
opted to use the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving
congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to
block the rules.
That’s despite a finding from the U.S. Government Accountability
Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, that California’s
standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review
Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding.
California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, has
significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen
states signed on to adopt California's rule phasing out the sale of
new gas-powered cars.
The National Automobile Dealers Association supported the federal
government’s move to block California’s ban on gas-powered cars,
saying Congress should decide on such a national issue, not the
state.
The American Trucking Associations said the rules were not feasible
and celebrated Congress’ move to block them.
Chris Spear, the CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said in
a statement Wednesday: “This is not the United States of
California.”
It was also applauded by Detroit automaker General Motors, which
said it will “help align emissions standards with today’s market
realities.”
“We have long advocated for one national standard that will allow us
to stay competitive, continue to invest in U.S. innovation, and
offer customer choice across the broadest lineup of gas-powered and
electric vehicles,” the company said in a statement.
Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, in anticipation
of the president signing the measures, said earlier Thursday that
the move would be “Trump’s latest betrayal of democracy.”
“Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil
and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people’s health
and their wallets,” Becker said in a statement.
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Austin reported from Sacramento, Calif.
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