California emissions waiver

Thune says GOP senators are ‘still looking’ at nixing California emissions waiver

Democrats say holding a vote would be a “nuclear option” with sweeping implications for the Senate.

Jordain Carney

Senate Republicans are discussing whether and how to nix California’s longstanding emission standards waiver — a decision that could also have dramatic consequences for the state of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he had not yet made a decision on whether to bring up a resolution rolling back California’s ability to set stricter air quality standards after it passed the House last week.

“We’re still looking at that,” Thune said about the resolution, which invokes the Congressional Review Act to overturn EPA waivers granted under former President Joe Biden. The Senate has a “buffer” of a few weeks to make a decision, he added, and Republicans are having “conversations” about what to do.

There’s widespread interest among Senate Republicans in nixing California’s waiver, which has allowed the state to in effect set national environmental policy, and some members of Thune’s leadership team have gone so far as to vow that the Senate will take it up — putting pressure on Thune to act.

The wrinkle for Thune is that the Government Accountability Office has ruled that the waivers do not qualify as rules subject to challenge under the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, has backed up the GAO ruling.

Many Republicans are wary of challenging MacDonough, who will need to bless their party line policy bill later this year. One option under discussion would be to try to target the GAO’s ruling instead.

Democrats warned in a recent letter they would view Republicans bringing up a CRA resolution to nix California’s waiver as a move to undermine the filibuster, the 60-vote requirement for most legislation, in light of the GAO ruling and the parliamentarian’s guidance. The letter was sent to Republicans on May 1 but released publicly by Democrats on Monday.

“[S]uch an action would be a procedural nuclear option — a dramatic break from Senate precedent with profound institutional consequences,” 20 Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wrote in a letter to Senate GOP leadership.

They added that “once that precedent is set, a future Senate Majority could subsequently apply it to legislation beyond the CRA. Put bluntly, there is no cabining a decision to overrule the Parliamentarian.”