Congress

Senate Overturns California’s Electric Vehicle Mandate in Defiance of Parliamentarian

“The effort here is to ensure that you’re not overruling the parliamentarian,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said.

John Thune
Senate Majority Leader John Thune gives remarks during a press conference outside the Senate Chambers in the Capitol. Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA via AP

By Anna Kramer, Ursula Perano and Em Luetkemeyer

May 22, 2025 11:19 AM

The Senate voted 51-44 to overturn California’s electric-vehicle mandate via the Congressional Review Act on Thursday, defying the Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian.

Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s parliamentarian, said the chamber could not use the Congressional Review Act — a maneuver that permits a 50-vote threshold for overturning agency rules in the Senate, rather than 60 — to remove California’s emissions waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency.

But Senate Republicans were adamant that MacDonough’s deferral to the GAO, which also said the CRA was inappropriate for overturning California’s EPA waivers, justified moving ahead with the vote anyway. (Republicans also pointed out that the parliamentarian had not made a formal ruling on the matter.)