01.24.24

Hoeven, Crapo, Cruz Call on Biden Admin to Withdraw Unlawful Emissions Standards, De Facto EV Mandate

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven this week joined a bicameral effort, led in the U.S. Senate by Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to withdraw its proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. The proposed standards would:

  • Require automakers to more than double average fleet-wide fuel economy in less than 10 years, which exceeds the agency’s authority under federal law.
  • Effectively mandate the mass production of electric vehicles (EVs), leading to a phase-out of gas-powered cars and trucks.

“[These standards] represent yet another attempt by this administration to use the rulemaking process to impose its climate agenda on American families,” the lawmakers wrote.  “NHTSA’s proposed standards, when coupled with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) distinct, extreme tailpipe emissions proposal, amount to a de facto mandate for EVs that threatens to raise costs and restrict consumer choice, harm U.S. businesses, degrade our energy and national security and hand the keys of our automotive industry over to our adversaries, especially China.”

In addition to Hoeven, Crapo and Cruz, the letter is signed by Senators James Risch (R-Idaho), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthis Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.). The full text of the letter can be found here.

This effort aligns with the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act, legislation Hoeven recently introduced with Senator Crapo to counter the Biden administration’s radical environmental agenda and executive overreach by preventing the implementation of a proposed rule and other regulations that seek to limit consumer vehicle choice.

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