The GOP-controlled US Senate just voted Thursday to revoke California’s mandate to switch to only electric cars by the year 2035, in an obvious middle finger to California from politicians who claim to support “states’ rights.”
About five years ago, it was a sweeping move that a dozen states quickly copied when the state of California moved to ban the sale of gasoline-only cars by the year 2025. But even though an electric car tycoon effectively bankrolled much of Trump’s 2024 election campaign, President Trump still has a certain unique hatred of electric cars. And since the US Senate is now controlled by Trump’s lickspittles, KQED reports that the Senate voted to block California’s electric car mandate in a 51-44 vote Thursday.
This is clearly just a ‘Fuck you’ move to the state of California, and quite plainly gives the lie to the Republican mantra thay they support states’ rights.
“Because what we have at stake is also a state’s ability, it’s right to make its own laws,” Senator Adam Schiff, who voted against the rollback, said in a statement picked up by KQED. “And to protect its own citizens without having this body overturn that right.”
California has the unique ability to solicit the Environmental Protection Agency to establish our own stricter emissions standards, after the smog pollution menace we suffered in the 1960s and 70s. And automakers usually oblige by employing those standards across the nation, because California is a large market, and carmakers don't want the cost of making two different types of car emissions systems for their vehicles.
But California can also serve as a floodgate-opener in these matters. Since Californa passed the electric vehicle mandate, twelve other states and Washington, DC followed suit.
Even though the Senate vote happened only hours ago, Governor Gavin Newsom has already vowed he’s going to sue the federal government over this.
“This Senate vote is illegal,” Newsom said in a statement picked up by the Chronicle. He refers to the Republicans using a procedural vote to sidestep the chamber’s parliamentarian, therefore avoiding the filibuster rule.
Every Democrat in the Senate voted against lifting the ban, except for Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin.
“Michigan is the auto capital of the world, and as Michigan’s US Senator, I have a special responsibility to stand up for the more than one million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the US auto industry,” Slotkin said in a statement released after the vote. “This standard means car manufacturers, including the Big Three, will be forced to eventually stop the sale of gas-powered cars in these states or pay competitors, particularly Tesla, for credits to remain compliant.”
Related: California to Ban Sale of Gas-Only Cars By 2035... If We All Make It That Long [SFist]
Image: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 3: Traffic backs up the San Ysidro Southbound Inspection as people enter Tijuana, Mexico at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on May 3, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
