Schumer blasts Thune for choosing "nuclear option"
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is blazing forward with a controversial move to repeal California's EV mandate — and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is warning it will come back to bite him.
Why it matters: Schumer (D-N.Y.) all but threatened to deploy similar strategies to get around opinions by key, nonpartisan rule makers if and when he grabs back control of the chamber.
- "What goes around comes around," Schumer said on Tuesday. He and other Democratic leaders have described the GOP move as a "nuclear option."
- Thune (R-S.D.) accused Democrats of "throwing a tantrum."
Driving the news: The Senate will vote as soon as Wednesday on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would overturn California's Clean Air Act waiver, leading to an eventual ban on gas-powered vehicles.
- The Government Accountability Office issued an opinion saying that the waiver is not a rule that cannot be repealed by the CRA. The Senate parliamentarian then agreed with GAO.
- That isn't stopping Republicans.
Zoom in: Key Senate Republican leaders have been discussing the best way to move forward with repealing California's EV policy — and assuring senators with concerns about ignoring the parliamentarian.
- For weeks, GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) assured reporters the Senate would move forward with the CRA, making the case for it on the Senate floor and in an op-ed.
- Senate Rules Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a staunch defender of Senate procedure, spoke in favor of using the CRA during a closed-door lunch last week. His voice was particularly influential for some senators on the fence, according to sources familiar.
Between the lines: Republicans argue the California waiver is a unique case, the GAO does not get to decide what rules can be undone and that their action does not count as overruling the parliamentarian.
- "We are not talking about doing anything to erode the institutional character of the Senate," Thune argued on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
- Democrats say Republicans are leaving the door wide open for how the CRA can be interpreted and used in the future — and point to past examples of Republicans asking the GAO to weigh in on the CRA.
- "To go nuclear on something as significant as this, and to do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry, is outrageous," Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday evening.
