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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of April 28, 2025

Washington, April 27, 2025
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
 
Defending Americans’ Right to Choose Their Car

In December 2024, the Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted a waiver of preemption for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule that places extreme standards on emissions for vehicles in an attempt to make all new vehicles zero emission by 2035 and force Americans to switch to EVs. 

This rule will ban the sale of gas-powered and traditional hybrid vehicles gradually – forcing automakers to sell electric vehicles in place of traditional models and taking consumer choice out of Americans’ hands.

Electric vehicles are considerably more expensive than gas vehicles and much less reliable in cold weather and with our current grid stability, making them an unrealistic option for many American families. Amerians should be able to choose which car best suits their needs and the needs of their family, not be forced to choose an EV because it’s the only option left in the marketplace. 

Additionally, these unrealistic regulations place an enormous burden on car manufacturers and even force them to rely on one of our biggest adversaries and the world’s number one polluter – China – which controls around 90 percent of the processing and refining supply chain capacity for the minerals required to power electric vehicles.

We cannot allow the Biden-era regulations to take choice out of consumer hands and force unaffordable options on Americans. House Republicans are bringing legislation to repeal this damaging Biden EPA waiver.

Rep. John Joyce’s legislation, H.J. Res. 88, repeals the Biden-Harris EPA’s waiver allowing California’s burdensome Advanced Clean Cars II emissions rule, protecting consumer choice, keeping more affordable and realistic car options in the marketplace, and preventing increased manufacturing and consumer costs.

House Republicans will always work to ensure that Americans get to choose their cars based on what’s best for them, not California bureaucrats.
 

Safeguarding America’s Trucking Industry From Burdensome Rules

In 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule under the Clean Air Act, allowing the state to impose stricter emissions standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks than federal requirements.

This Biden-era rule would force truck makers to sell zero-emission trucks, imposing more burdensome regulations, increasing vehicle prices for Americans, raising costs and over complicating manufacturing for automakers, and threatening the American supply chain.

Truckers are the lifeblood of America. If not reversed, the Biden Advanced Clean Trucks rule would demand truck makers implement the expensive transition to electric trucks and disproportionately harm truckers and hardworking American families across the nation. The rule aims for all new trucks to be zero emission by 2035.

Americans are sick and tired of burdensome regulations imposed by unelected bureaucrats to further their radical “Green New Deal” agenda driving up costs and hurting manufacturers. House Republicans are bringing legislation to repeal the waiver approving the Advanced Clean Trucks rule and lower vehicle costs for consumers and safeguard the American trucking industry.

H.J. Res. 87, introduced by Rep. John James, overturns the Biden Administration’s approval of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule forcing truck makers to sell zero-emission trucks and raising vehicle prices for consumers. 

House Republicans won’t stop working to repeal burdensome Biden-era rules and waivers that hurt American consumers, raise prices, and fuel inflation as we implement President Trump’s America First agenda.

Overturning Unworkable Nitrogen Oxide Engine Emissions Standards

Last year, the Biden-Harris Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to grant a waiver of preemption allowing California to impose their Omnibus Low NOx (nitrogen oxide) regulations on on-road heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The regulations include stringent and onerous requirements for revised heavy-duty emission standards. 

These new standards would require significant investments in new technologies and infrastructure, resulting in a high cost of compliance that burdens manufacturers as well as consumers as the cost of the transition to these standards is passed down. Additionally, as these California “clean car” policies mandate stricter emission standards, including phasing out the sale of gas-powered vehicles, they limit the availability of vehicles that don't meet these unreasonable standards – reducing options available to consumers. 

If left unchanged, this harmful decision by the Biden EPA would threaten affordable, reliable transportation, increase manufacturing complexities, and drive up costs for hardworking taxpayers and American businesses.

We cannot allow radical leftist bureaucrats to impose unworkable Green New Deal standards that harm everyday Americans and American manufacturing and crush our transportation industry. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to put an end to this Biden-era rule creating burdensome, unrealistic standards for heavy-duty on-road engines.

Rep. Jay Obernolte’s legislation, H.J. Res. 89, disapproves the Biden-Harris EPA’s rule granting California the ability to implement its most recent nitrogen oxide engine emission standards, imposing onerous and impractical requirements for heavy-duty on-road engines, raising costs for consumers, and threatening reliable transportation and consumer choice.

House Republicans will always fight to protect American jobs, consumers, transportation, and manufacturing from overbearing and harmful regulations that endanger livelihoods and take away from consumer choice.
 

Keeping Recreation Opportunities Available in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the National Park Service issued a rule prohibiting the use of Off Road Vehicles (ORVs) and street-legal all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on approximately 24 miles of park roads in Glen Canyon Recreation Area, making it harder for locals to find places to live, work, and recreate with less access to land. This rule went into effect on February 12, 2025. 

The Glen Canyon Recreation Area – a National Recreation Area – should be managed for multiple uses as Congress directed, so Americans can enjoy the great outdoors without dealing with burdensome restrictions.

This rule limiting access is not supported by county officials, the state, or locals – showing just how out-of-touch Biden-era regulations are with the American public, instead catering to radical environmental groups. It is not sustainable for National Park Services to continue infringing on access and use, especially in an area with so much land already locked by the federal government.

We should be supporting recreation, not discouraging it. It’s past time for balanced land management that considers local communities and citizens – Americans have a right to use their lands for recreation and resources. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to overturn the Biden National Park Service’s burdensome Glen Canyon Recreation Area motor vehicles rule.

H.J. Res. 60, sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy, repeals the Biden Administration rule prohibiting use of ORVs and street-legal ATVs on approximately 24 miles of park roads in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area, reopening the land for recreational use.

House Republicans will continue supporting public recreation over onerous red-tape and listening to the concerns of American citizens when addressing the regulatory environment.  

Protecting California’s Water Supply From Burdensome Environmental Red Tape

In July of last year, the Biden Administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a rule classifying the San Francisco Bay-Delta distinct population segment of longfin smelt to be an endangered species, adding it to the Endangered Species List and extending the protections that come with it to the fish. This rule went into effect in August 2024.

This decision, fueled by legal action from an environmental group, puts California’s water supply at risk by placing new restrictions on the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP), resulting in more water being diverted to the Pacific Ocean rather than stored to supply farmers and families for future use or being made available to Americans.

Once again, the Biden Administration imposed out-of-touch regulations to cater to radical environmental groups instead of prioritizing the needs of everyday Americans. This rule only adds to the mass of confusing and burdensome environmental policies making it harder to effectively manage California’s water supply.

Californians need policies that cut bureaucracy and simplify water management, not make it nearly impossible. House Republicans are bringing forward legislation that would undo the listing of this fish species as endangered and halt the designation of critical habitat in order to safeguard water for Californians across the state.

Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s legislation, H.J. Res. 78, repeals the Biden Administration’s listing of the longfin smelt as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, as this designation imposes burdensome red tape that hinders effective water management and reduces water availability for the American families and farmers who need it most.

House Republicans will always fight to support American families and farmers, strengthen our economy, and ensure a reliable water supply for the safety and effective use of all Californians.