The Government Accountability Office general counsel who shut down President Donald Trump's request to supersede California's aggressive gas emissions laws once managed DEI initiatives for the agency. (Getty/iStock)
"The GAO's conclusion that California can ban 95 percent of the state's cars, without a vote of the Legislature and with no recourse from Congress, defies basic notions of democratic legitimacy and common sense. We will be moving forward with our Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse this insane ban and restore choice for California consumers," Kiley said in a statement.
Emmanuelli Perez shut down any insinuation from Republicans that she ruled independently on the case, telling Fox News Digital in a statement that the GAO's decisions are "institutional, not individually authored, products."
"In response to a Congressional request, we summarized relevant, established case law related to the Congressional Review Act and waivers under the Clean Air Act. We stand behind our work, as all GAO products go through our extensive quality assurance process," Emmanuelli Perez said.
The GAO released its decision earlier this month in response to a request from Congress on whether EPA waivers that grant California permission to enforce its 2035 gas car ban are subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
The GAO determined that California's EPA waiver is not subject to the CRA, so Congress cannot use the CRA to overturn California's aggressive zero-emission goals. Kiley, however, has committed to moving forward with the CRA despite the GAO's ruling.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks to the media after voting at McCambridge Recreation Center in Burbank on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Following Zeldin and Trump's announcement, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., requested a legal decision from the GAO on whether the EPA’s decision to grant California waivers under the Clean Air Act could be overturned using the CRA.
The Democratic senators championed the GAO's ruling and slammed the Trump administration for trying to eliminate the "California emission standards [that] have protected generations of Americans against fossil fuel emissions."
"By ignoring decades of precedent and the plain text of the Congressional Review Act, the Trump EPA is attempting to sell out our nation’s public health and environmental protections to the same polluting industries that bankrolled much of Trump’s campaign," the senators said following the GAO's decision.
However, Trump campaigned on eliminating such regulations, and on his first day back in the White House, the president signed an executive order "unleashing American energy." The executive order eliminated the "electric vehicle (EV) mandate" to promote consumer choice. While the litigation is tied up in the congressional branch, with the stroke of a pen on day one, Trump moved to terminate "state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles."
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Trump also campaigned on a day-one commitment to eliminating DEI in the federal government. On his Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order "ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and referencing," which rolled back Biden-era DEI policies and initiatives in the federal government.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-agency-staffer-trying-block-crucial-trump-directive-once-managed-dei-team