WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans, led by Michigan U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, have introduced bills to reverse ambitious new vehicle fuel economy regulations issued by the Biden administration.
The administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, commonly known as CAFE, were finalized in June and would require automakers’ new vehicle fleets to achieve an average fuel economy of 53.5 miles per gallon by 2032.
“The extreme (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) CAFE standards are the latest attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to strip away choice from American consumers and mandate EVs,” the Tipton Republican said in a statement about his bill.
Though the in-the-weeds technicalities of regulatory affairs aren’t usually popular household issues, rules affecting the future of the U.S. auto industry have become a mainstay of the 2024 presidential election.
Republicans — headlined by presidential nominee Donald Trump — have consistently railed against President Joe Biden’s efforts to significantly curb tailpipe emissions and encourage a shift toward electric vehicles as ways to fight climate change and keep pace with China’s emergence as the world’s leading EV maker.
Biden and his allies, meanwhile, have cheered the CAFE standards and similar efforts as smart for consumers’ wallets and prudent for the future of the auto industry.
“Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in June. “These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gasoline costs over the lifetime of their vehicle.”
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is leading a companion push on the Senate side to cancel the CAFE standards. The bills in both chambers invoke the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to rescind regulations shortly after they’re finalized.
The effort is unlikely to succeed in the current politically divided Congress.
However, Republicans might be able to revive the action early next year if they win control of both chambers and the White House in November. That is due to a so-called lookback provision in the CRA that allows Congress to revisit late-passing rules from a previous presidential administration.
The highly-anticipated trigger date for the lookback period will not be final until at least one chamber of Congress adjourns for the year.
All regulations finalized after that date — on average July 18, per a report from the Administrative Conference of the United States — would be open to renewed challenges if Republicans manage to sweep the general elections.
That would keep the June 7 fuel economy standards safe from a later CRA challenge, though some observers think the window will close earlier this year.
The CAFE rule is one of many actions from Biden meant to reduce the environmental impact of consumer vehicles, which make up about 16% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, per EPA data.
His administration has devoted considerable time and resources to the matter, employing incentives and punitive regulations that push the auto industry toward electrification.
Other efforts have included two otherkey rules aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions; a $7,500 tax credit on qualifying new EV purchases via the climate-minded Inflation Reduction Act; $7.5 billion for EV charger buildout via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; IRA-funded manufacturing subsidies to repurpose old industrial centers for EVs; and a set of new tariffs that aim to protect U.S. automakers from competition with China, which has emerged as the world leader in EVs.
Republicans have roundly opposed those efforts.
“The Biden-Harris administration has declared war against affordable gas-powered cars,” Cruz said in a statement, alluding to Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “I’m leading the effort in the Senate to stop radical environmentalists from both abusing the rulemaking process and trying to force electric vehicles on consumers who do not want them.”
“Unlike the Biden-Harris administration, Republicans continue to fight for consumers and innovators to have the ability to shape the future of the auto industry,” Walberg added, “not just unelected bureaucrats issuing radical mandates from Washington.”
