Rep. Hageman Moves to Terminate California’s Hijacking of National Emissions Standards

Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced a joint resolution pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the EPA's California waiver to enforce strict greenhouse gas (GHG) standards on cars. The ability to enact state-based emissions standards is only afforded to California under federal law, and the state is abusing this authority in an attempt to force automakers to fit its emissions standards, which raises costs for consumers.

"The 119th Congress is reclaiming its Article I authority over the administrative state by using the Congressional Review Act to repeal bad regulations. In 2025, Congress moved swiftly to terminate three other California emissions waivers, and we have successfully thrown out nearly 30 regulations intended to destroy American energy production and force a green transition on the American people. Today's legislation is another step to reclaiming our authority as the national policymaker, and to stop inflicting harm on the American people in the name of climate lunacy."

The Clean Air Act preempts state governments from adopting their own pollutant emissions standards for new motor vehicles and engines. However, California can apply to the EPA for a waiver from this federal preemption. After denial by the Bush administration, one of the first actions of the Obama administration EPA was to grant California's waiver that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles qualify as pollutants California may regulate. With this new GHG authority, California and the Obama administration created a national standard that aligned with radical California GHG emissions standards, which then resulted in the rolling out of several burdensome regulations on cars and trucks nationally. In June 2026, EPA Administrator Zeldin reported these waivers to Congress for review pursuant to the CRA, and Rep. Hageman's legislation officially starts this push to end these harmful regulations once and for all.