The U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Transportation Department filed a lawsuit against California on March 12 to stop what they say is an illegal electric vehicle (EV) requirement, alleging that the state is mandating fuel economy standards that federal law places in the exclusive domain of the federal government.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the lawsuit, which was filed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The suit takes aim at regulations formulated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which mandates that automakers comply with stricter mileage standards.
CARB has implemented stringent rules, such as the Advanced Clean Cars II act approved in August 2022, which requires that 35 percent of new vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission starting in 2026 and mandates a complete ban on new gas-powered car sales by 2035.
The Clean Air Act bans states from establishing their own tailpipe emission standards for trucks and cars. However, California can get an exemption from the ban if it obtains a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Following the waiver approval, California can implement its own emissions rules. The waiver would allow state officials to enforce tougher standards than national ones, influencing automakers nationwide because of the state’s large market share.
However, federal law bars states from implementing their own fuel economy laws, officials argue in the suit.
California’s waivers were revoked in June 2025 when Congress passed resolutions under the Congressional Review Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law, preventing California from implementing the stricter standards. California and 10 other states filed a lawsuit, arguing that the Congressional Review Act does not apply to Environmental Protection Agency waiver decisions because they are not “rules.” The case is ongoing.
The Golden State’s new laws seek to require manufacturers to redesign the vehicles they sell across the country, increasing prices and curtailing consumer choices, according to officials.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not respond to requests for comment.
Newsom previously accused Trump of “destroying” the state’s clean air and “America’s global competitiveness.” He also said that without the high standards, the low air quality in the state would cost California taxpayers an estimated $45 billion in health care costs.
The federal government’s legal action aligns with Trump’s “freedom means affordable cars” program, which targets the remaking of corporate average fuel economy standards and could save American families about $1,000 on the average new vehicle and also trim $109 billion in costs over five years, according to the Department of Transportation.
“Oppressive, expensive electric vehicle mandates drive up costs for American consumers and violate federal law,” Bondi said in a statement. “California is using unlawful policies from the last administration to create exorbitant costs for our citizens—this Department of Justice is proud to stand with President Trump and Secretary Duffy to bring litigation that will make life more affordable for American consumers.”
Duffy said the lawsuit is part and parcel of initiatives to halt EV policies.
“I was proud to stand alongside President Trump to unveil our plan to eliminate the Biden-Buttigieg EV mandate and allow auto manufacturers to produce cars American families actually want to buy at a more affordable price,” Duffy said in a statement, referring to a mandate from former President Joe Biden and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“But Gavin Newsom is determined to continue pushing Democrats’ radical EV fantasy—even if doing so is illegal.”
The departments filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against CARB and its executive officer. The case claims that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act overrides state rules, giving NHTSA sole authority over fuel economy.
“This lawsuit continues [the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s] war on regulatory overreach by California that is set on undermining the national market for motor vehicles through unlawful state policies,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement.
“The state vehicle standards we are challenging today are preempted by federal law, just like the standards that were blocked by a court in our challenge to California’s so-called Clean Truck Partnership.”
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison also criticized EV policies.
“This litigation will help automakers design and produce cars and trucks to meet one federal fuel economy regulation,“ Morrison said. ”It was a mistake by Presidents [Barack] Obama and Biden to enable California to set its own backdoor fuel economy policies, which have now spiraled into a costly patchwork quilt of individual state fuel economy requirements. This litigation will correct that misstep.”
Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.
