WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and nearly half the Senate introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) Joint Resolution of Disapproval to nullify the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) rule and illustrate Congress’ objection to this federal overreach.
The FWHA finalized a rule in November 2023, imposing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance measures on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations despite lacking the authority from Congress to do so. This misguided regulation is another case of gross federal overreach from the Biden administration, which saddles states with burdensome and unlawful requirements.
“Most people have no idea that the Federal Highway Administration exists or what it has the authority to do,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Congress must do everything possible to stop this overreach. We need to plan a transportation system without FHWA interfering on things which are impossible to achieve.”
“The absence of a prohibition is not a license, and yet the Biden administration pushed this illegal and infeasible regulation anyway. New York and North Dakota have very different transportation systems, needs, and capabilities, but under this one-size-fits-all mandate, they’re effectively treated the same. A subway stop at a cattle ranch is silly and unserious, and so is the idea of widespread EV use in North Dakota. Nearly half the Senate cosponsored this resolution from the onset, showing strong appetite for this rule to be defeated,” said Senator Cramer, Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Congress has not provided the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) with any statutory authority to implement this proposal. It was intentionally left out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. FHWA’s new rule resembles a 2017 Obama administration rule the Trump administration repealed in 2018 after reconsidering the legal authority under which it was promulgated. Additionally, the agency’s proposal is not workable, as illustrated by comments from a majority of state DOTs and attorneys general, which raised concerns or outright opposed it.
Cassidy and Cramer are joined by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Thune (R-SD), John Hoeven (R-ND), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Mike Lee (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), James Risch (R-ID), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), James Lankford (R-OK), Tim Scott (R-SC), Rick Scott (R-FL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) in cosponsoring the resolution.
U.S. Representatives Rick Crawford (R-AR-01) and Sam Graves (R-MO-06) introduced the resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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