Alex Padilla Advanced Clean Trucks and EPA Nominations

WASHINGTON  — In the wake of the abolishment of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rules, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is announcing his intent to place a blanket hold on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominations, including proceeding with his objections to the four EPA nominations currently pending on the Senate’s Executive Calendar and holding three additional EPA nominations.

“The Trump Administration and the Republican majority plowed ahead with an unprecedented power grab at the expense of the health of millions of children and families in California and many other states,” Padilla said.

In his Congressional Record Statement, Padilla stated he will maintain these seven holds until Republicans make appropriate accommodations so that California can protect its own environment and the health of its residents.

“The Senate’s constitutional role to Advise and Consent regarding executive branch nominations is an important check on agency leadership’s abuse and overreach, and raising these objections regarding EPA nominations is my duty on behalf of the people of the State of California,” Padilla said. “I am objecting to expedited consideration of EPA nominees in response to the Trump Administration EPA’s abuse of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) by submitting three waivers issued to the State of California to Congress and claiming they are ‘rules’ under the CRA despite the Government Accountability Office’s clear determination they are not.”

Overruling the Nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian Decision

Padilla’s objections come in response to Republicans overruling the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian’s decision and going nuclear on the Senate rulebook in order to rescind California’s clean air waivers that allow the state to implement more protective air quality standards, according to a press release from Padilla’s office. The Senate Parliamentarian determined that any resolutions aimed at overturning California waivers would not be entitled to the Congressional Review Act’s (CRA) expedited procedures and would therefore require 60 votes to secure Senate passage. However, Senate Republicans bypassed the filibuster to rescind these waivers by overruling the Parliamentarian.

Disastrous Impacts

The seven Senate-confirmable nominations Padilla is holding include four pending on the Senate floor and three working their way through the committee process.

Unacceptable Decision

Padilla also circulated a memo to his Senate colleagues outlining the broad implications of Republicans going nuclear on the Senate rules, detailing that the Senate majority went nuclear by:

Overriding the text of the CRA, which bars points of order (which they then raised).
Overruling the Parliamentarian’s determination by ignoring her and “submitting the question” to the Senate as opposed to overruling the Chair.

Breaking CRA Precedent

According to Padilla’s press release, the memo makes clear that by defying their previous commitments and breaking 30 years of CRA precedent with the first successful use of the nuclear option on the legislative filibuster, the CRA is now open to being applied to any agency action that is submitted to Congress going back to 1996, opening up a large new window to force votes in the Senate. In addition, Senate Republicans have now permanently undermined the legislative filibuster that they have claimed to defend on the eve of budget reconciliation, where they are under pressure to overrule the Parliamentarian yet again to avoid a filibuster on legislation that would eliminate health care and nutrition assistance for millions of Americans to cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy.

Sounding the Alarm

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in pushing back against Republican attacks on California’s Clean Air Act waivers. Over the last month, Padilla has spoken on the Senate floor repeatedly to sound the alarm on Senate Republicans’ revocations of these critical waivers. Padilla, along with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), also led Democratic Ranking Members in strongly warning Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) of the “dangerous and irreparable consequences” if Senate Republicans overrule the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision on California’s waivers. Many of his Democratic colleagues voiced similar opposition to Republicans’ “unprecedented dismissal of the Senate rulebook.”

In April, Padilla, Whitehouse, and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) welcomed the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision that the waivers are not subject to the CRA. Padilla also joined Whitehouse and Schiff in blasting Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s “weaponization” of the EPA after the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) similar finding. Padilla and Schiff previously slammed the Trump Administration’s intent to roll back dozens of the EPA’s regulations that protect California’s air and water.

The full text of Senator Padilla’s hold statement is available here.

Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.

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