WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a disapproval resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a new Biden-Harris administration regulation that would effectively ban gas-powered automobiles and force American consumers to buy electric vehicles.  

This final rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), when combined with the administration’s massive increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) civil penalties and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) vehicle emissions rule, will raise car prices, restrict consumer choice, and hurt U.S. auto workers.    

“The Biden-Harris administration has declared war against affordable gas-powered cars,” said Sen. Cruz. “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.”  

The resolution is cosponsored by 28 senators; Sens. include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Sen. John Kennedy (R-La).

Read full text resolution here.

Background:  

In June 2024, Sen. Cruz announced his plan to force a vote on the Biden-Harris gas car ban. 

In January 2024, Sens. Cruz and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), along with U.S. Representative Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) led a bicameral coalition of their colleagues in sending a letter calling on NHTSA Deputy Administrator, Sophie Shulman, to rescind the Biden administration’s proposed CAFE standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks.   

In December 2023, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) urging Congressional leadership to defund the Biden EPA’s electric vehicle rule, which would effectively require vehicles to be fully electric by 2032. 

In October 2023, Sen. Cruz introduced the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act with Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Crapo to counter the Biden administration’s executive overreach banning gasoline powered vehicles and establishing an electric vehicle mandate. The bill prohibits the EPA from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing its rule that would limit what cars and trucks Texans can buy under the pretext of emissions reductions. 

In May 2023, Sen. Cruz led the Commerce Committee Republicans in sending a letter highlighting serious concerns that under then-nominee Ann Carlson NHTSA would follow the EPA’s lead and adopt California’s extreme push to ban gas-powered vehicles by proposing radical vehicle fuel economy standards that run contrary to the law, diminish vehicle choice, impose higher costs on American families, and undermine our national and energy security all while benefitting China.

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