Trump needs to finish the job and cancel California’s green carveouts

One of the great accomplishments of the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 — after 40 years of Democrat rule — was empowering to Congress to rein in the deep state in Washington.

Legislators did this by passing the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress the power to review and overturn the mandates decreed by federal agencies.

I was a strong supporter and co-sponsor of the CRA, because unelected bureaucrats shouldn’t be able to impose costs on the people without congressional oversight.

I have been delighted to see President Trump aggressively using the CRA to roll back former President Joe Biden’s costly regulations, which have driven up costs for consumers. 

President Trump arrives to make remarks during the Faith and Freedom Coalition 2026 Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton Hotel. MediaPunch / BACKGRID

Trump has wisely identified Biden-era California waivers as eligible for review by Congress.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently sent four California Clean Air Act waivers to Congress. This builds on previous exceptions flagged by the EPA in 2025, which led to Congress disapproving several of California’s special-status waivers.

This matters because for decades, Americans everywhere have paid the bill for California’s extreme environmental agenda.

The state’s rules raise the price of cars, trucks, freight, energy and even lawn equipment — not only in the Golden State, but elsewhere as well.

Much of California’s power to affect our lives comes through a quirk of federal law embedded in the Clean Air Act.

Trump has wisely identified Biden-era California waivers as eligible for review by Congress. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The act bars states from setting their own emission standards for mobile sources, leaving that to national rules written by the EPA.

But California gets an exception: It may ask the EPA for a “waiver” (or “authorization”) to impose stricter standards. And companion provisions generally let other states adopt California’s tougher rules.

For years, Democrat presidential administrations have given California the chance to impose ever-more-extreme rules through this waiver scheme, and then shielded California’s waivers from the congressional scrutiny they were due.

From special rules on lawn equipment to mandates on ships sitting at berth in California harbors, California had a special rule at the ready for almost every scenario — and a green light from Democrat administrations to bypass Congress.

But that has all changed under the new Trump administration, which has sought from the outset to ensure that Congress get its proper say.

In 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin transmitted three Biden-era California waivers to Congress for review, including California’s zero-emission rules for new motor vehicles, which required an increasing share of cars and trucks sold in California to be fully electric.

As the EPA noted, those waivers not only increased the cost of vehicles, but also increased the cost of goods and cost of living for American families nationwide.

And as the EPA rightly reasoned, these waivers were subject to the Congressional Review Act before taking effect.

Submission to Congress starts a 60-day clock. Lawmakers may pass a resolution of disapproval on an expedited track that cannot be filibustered during that period, and once the president signs a disapproval resolution from Congress, the rule dies and the agency may not reissue anything substantially similar.

The Biden administration never submitted California’s waivers, claiming that they did not qualify as rules under the CRA.

As a result, this entire category of consequential policy decisions skirted congressional accountability.

But the EPA is now correcting that, and Congress has confirmed that the EPA is reading the law the right way — passing three disapproval resolutions in May 2025, with President Trump signing all three in June, striking the waivers from the books.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

This month, the EPA pressed further, sending four more waivers to Congress. Among them were rules that granted California the authority to impose restrictions on consumer goods ranging from cars to lawnmowers.

The EPA’s efforts are a huge step in the right direction, but more mischief awaits correction.

The Trump Administration needs to finish the job before the midterm elections, where majorities in the House and Senate are hanging by a thread. If either one of those majorities is lost, these remaining waivers will stay on the books.

One example is California’s “Vessels At-Berth” regulations, which order ships docked at the state’s ports to cut their auxiliary diesel engines and draw power from the onshore grid. Most tankers calling there cannot comply; California’s own analysis pegs the cost at $2.23 billion through 2032, with separate noncompliance penalties reaching $50,288 a day per violation for each ship.

The EPA waiver authorizing the regulations never went to Congress, so the waiver’s CRA review clock never started.

The answer is clear: Every eligible waiver withheld from CRA review by Democrat presidents should go to Congress now.

The statute, as read by the EPA and as confirmed by Congress and the president, demands as much: If one of these waivers requires submission, they all require submission.

The EPA has already laid the groundwork for ensuring that Congress gets its fair say over California waivers.

It should finish what it started and send the rest as soon as possible.

Rick Santorum is a former Republican member of the US Senate from Pennsylvania, and a former presidential candidate.