Trump’s Administration Is Targeting California’s Gas Car Ban. Its Strategy Is Legally Uncertain.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin wants Congress to overturn a Biden-era waiver on emissions standards.

Lee Zeldin

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin accused the Biden administration of failing to give Congress the chance to strike down the “rules on California’s waivers.” Tom Williams/AP

The Trump administration wants Congress to block California’s ability to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. It’s just not clear that Congress has the power to do that.

Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is transmitting waivers — which the Biden administration granted California to have stricter emissions standards than the rest of the country — to Congress, calling on them to overturn the actions.

Zeldin accused the Biden administration of failing to give Congress the chance to strike down the “rules on California’s waivers” in the first place. Now, Congress will have the chance to employ a little-used power called the Congressional Review Act, which allows the Legislative branch to overturn recent regulations with a simple majority.