Politics
Fate of California's auto standards will come down to Senate battle
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives took a trio of votes this week targeting California’s decades-old authority to enforce its own environmental standards, setting the stage for a significant standoff in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats say Republican leaders would have to defy long-standing congressional order to get the measures passed.
The votes called into question California’s waiver from the Clean Air Act of 1970, an authority that has allowed the state to set stricter pollution guidelines and empowered its leaders to set an alternative standard on car emissions to those of the federal government.
On Thursday, Republicans in the House, joined by a handful of Democrats, voted to prohibit California from banning the sale of new gasoline-only cars by 2035. The day before, the House voted along similar lines to end California’s ability to set emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and to combat smog levels in the state.
For decades, automakers have bent their car production lines to meet California mileage standards, in part due to the size of the California market and in part because the industry has found it a safer bet — with changes in power so common in Washington — to be more stringent on fuel efficiency standards than the alternative. Today, more than a dozen states follow California’s standards, including New York, Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington and Oregon.
But since President Trump took office, the Environmental Protection Agency has questioned whether that authority amounts to a technical “rule” that allows for the Senate to disapprove of the waiver with a simple majority vote, under the Congressional Review Act.
Trump campaigned on a promise to reverse government programs promoting the sale of electric vehicles — often derided by critics as “EV mandates” — promoted by former President Biden and the California government, which aims to phase out the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035 with its latest program, Advanced Clean Cars II.
Over the last two months, two independent offices — the Senate parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office — have found that California’s waiver authority is not subject to review under the act.
California’s waiver, the GAO said, is “not a rule” under the law, noting that the matter had been reviewed multiple times over the last 60 years. The “EPA’s recent submission is inconsistent with this caselaw,” the office found.
But those rulings were not enough to stop votes from proceeding in the House.
It now falls to Senate Republican leadership, under Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), to decide how to proceed — and Thune has “made no commitments” either way, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said Thursday in an interview with The Times.
“I hope for the best, but I prepare for the worst,” Padilla said. “In my heart of hearts I think that he wouldn’t. He has made statements about respecting the parliamentarian’s determinations.
“But given the start of the year that we’ve had, and how the Republican Congress, including the Republican majority in the Senate, are just sort of caving and giving Donald Trump everything he’s asked for — we have to prepare for anything,” he continued. “I wouldn’t put it past him, I guess I should say.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, described the House vote as a “lawless” act of defiance against the Senate parliamentarian’s findings.
“Our vehicles program helps clean the air for all Californians, and we’ll continue defending it,” Newsom said.
The office of state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said he was “monitoring the situation closely,” suggesting litigation may follow if Senate Republicans proceed with a vote.
“The Congressional Review Act was designed to provide a mechanism for congressional oversight of new rules by federal agencies — not for partisan attacks on duly-adopted state laws,” Bonta said. “Not only would the misuse of the CRA undermine the integrity of our democratic process, but it would also be unlawful.”
An EPA spokesperson declined to comment on the process to come in the Senate, but noted that Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican senator from West Virginia, put out a statement in support of the House measures shortly after their votes.
Climate activists are expressing concern over the activity on Capitol Hill, with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute characterizing the Republican actions as a “sneaky and illegal” procedural trick “to try and kill California’s clean air protections.”
Others that have long advocated against California’s influence over fuel efficiency standards hailed the votes on Thursday.
In a statement, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President and Chief Executive Chet Thompson and American Petroleum Institute President and Chief Executive Mike Sommers said that action in the House was “a huge win for U.S. consumers,” asserting that states are far from achieving their target sales numbers under Advanced Clean Cars II.
“We are one step closer to restoring consumers’ ability to choose the cars that best meet their needs,” the executives said. “California’s unlawful ban should never have been authorized, and Governor Newsom should never have been allowed to seize this much control over the American vehicle market.”
“We urge the Senate to act swiftly,” they added.
California Sen. Adam Schiff’s office said he would be urging others in the Senate to adhere to the GAO’s findings, noting that Thune had previously committed to following “regular order” on votes — which, traditionally, has meant heeding the parliamentarian and GAO offices.
“Republicans have themselves admitted that the Congressional Review Act is not a tool at their disposal to ignore the law and overturn precedent, as has the Senate Parliamentarian,” Schiff said in a statement.
“We will fight this latest attack on California’s power to protect its own residents,” he added, “and I will urge my colleagues in the Senate to recognize the severe implications of proceeding with this violation of state’s rights, as well as the dangerous precedent it would set by flouting the unanimous opinion of Congress’ trusted arbiters.”
Politics
Federal judge blocks Trump from cutting childcare funds to Democratic states over fraud concerns
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A federal judge Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stopping subsidies on childcare programs in five states, including Minnesota, amid allegations of fraud.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, a Biden appointee, didn’t rule on the legality of the funding freeze, but said the states had met the legal threshold to maintain the “status quo” on funding for at least two weeks while arguments continue.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it would withhold funds for programs in five Democratic states over fraud concerns.
The programs include the Child Care and Development Fund, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and the Social Services Block Grant, all of which help needy families.
USDA IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDS ALL FEDERAL FUNDING TO MINNESOTA AMID FRAUD INVESTIGATION
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it would withhold funds for programs in five Democratic states over fraud concerns. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
“Families who rely on childcare and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement on Tuesday.
The states, which include California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, argued in court filings that the federal government didn’t have the legal right to end the funds and that the new policy is creating “operational chaos” in the states.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian at his nomination hearing in 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In total, the states said they receive more than $10 billion in federal funding for the programs.
HHS said it had “reason to believe” that the programs were offering funds to people in the country illegally.
‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’: SENATE REPUBLICANS PRESS GOV WALZ OVER MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL
The table above shows the five states and their social safety net funding for various programs which are being withheld by the Trump administration over allegations of fraud. (AP Digital Embed)
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, called the ruling a “critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration’s cruelty.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, called the ruling a “critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration’s cruelty.” (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to HHS for comment.
In what might be the most decisive critique yet of President Trump’s remake of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera’s board approved a resolution on Friday to leave the venue it has occupied since 1971.
“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the company said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, described the relationship with Washington National Opera as “financially challenging.”
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship,” Daravi said in a statement. “We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”
Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted that the call was made by the Kennedy Center, writing that its leadership had “approached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.”
“Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell wrote. “We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera’s exclusivity and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole – and getting worse.”
WNO’s decision to vacate the Kennedy Center’s 2,364-seat Opera House comes amid a wave of artist cancellations that came after the venue’s board voted to rename the center the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage featuring Trump’s name went up on the building’s exterior just days after the vote while debate raged over whether an official name change could be made without congressional approval.
That same day, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) — an ex officio member of the board — wrote on social media that the vote was not unanimous and that she and others who might have voiced their dissent were muted on the call.
Grenell countered that ex officio members don’t get a vote.
Cancellations soon began to mount — as did Kennedy Center‘s rebukes against the artists who chose not to appear. Jazz drummer Chuck Redd pulled out of his annual Christmas Eve concert; jazz supergroup the Cookers nixed New Year’s Eve shows; New York-based Doug Varone and Dancers dropped out of April performances; and Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck wrote on social media that he would no longer play at the venue in February.
WNO’s departure, however, represents a new level of artist defection. The company’s name is synonymous with the Kennedy Center and it has served as an artistic center of gravity for the complex since the building first opened.
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Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leveling a stunning accusation at Vice President JD Vance amid the national furor over this week’s fatal shooting in Minnesota involving an ICE agent.
“I understand that Vice President Vance believes that shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, and I do not,” the four-term federal lawmaker from New York and progressive champion argued as she answered questions on Friday on Capitol Hill from Fox News and other news organizations.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good after she confronted ICE agents from inside her car in Minneapolis.
RENEE NICOLE GOOD PART OF ‘ICE WATCH’ GROUP, DHS SOURCES SAY
Members of law enforcement work the scene following a suspected shooting by an ICE agent during federal operations on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Video of the incident instantly went viral, and while Democrats have heavily criticized the shooting, the Trump administration is vocally defending the actions of the ICE agent.
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Vance, at a White House briefing on Thursday, charged that “this was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was an attack on law and order.”
“That woman was there to interfere with a legitimate law enforcement operation,” the vice president added. “The president stands with ICE, I stand with ICE, we stand with all of our law enforcement officers.”
And Vance claimed Good was “brainwashed” and suggested she was connected to a “broader, left-wing network.”
Federal sources told Fox News on Friday that Good, who was a mother of three, worked as a Minneapolis-based immigration activist serving as a member of “ICE Watch.”
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Ocasio-Cortez, in responding to Vance’s comments, said, “That is a fundamental difference between Vice President Vance and I. I do not believe that the American people should be assassinated in the street.”
But a spokesperson for the vice president, responding to Ocasio-Cortez’s accusation, told Fox News Digital, “On National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, AOC made it clear she thinks that radical leftists should be able to mow down ICE officials in broad daylight. She should be ashamed of herself. The Vice President stands with ICE and the brave men and women of law enforcement, and so do the American people.”
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