Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) claimed that the Biden administration’s approval of California’s plan to require that all new car sales be electric vehicles(EV) by 2035 is not subject to review and potential repeal by Congress. The legality of GAO’s maneuver is questionable. Congress has the obligation and authority to review EPA waivers, and it should rescind this mandate.
The previous EPA leadership granted California a waiver under the Clean Air Act which would allow the state to end the sale of all gasoline-only vehicles. Last month the new EPA administrator under the new president submitted this waiver for review to lawmakers under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Waivers are generally seen as “rules” and should therefore be subject to the CRA, and ultimately Congress.
GAO works for Congress, not the other way around. The GAO has testified to the Senate that the CRA only authorizes the GAO to act “in [its] role as adviser to the Congress.” Some legal analysts claim that “once an agency submits something to Congress, GAO has no role to play.” The GAO does not have the final say, nor can it overrule Congress.
Apart from debates over government processes, this is much bigger than one state.
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Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, follow us on X @ConsumerPal