NW Kentucky News

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer and Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie have initiated a review of the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) publishing of observations concerning the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) submission of Clean Air Act (CAA) waivers as rules under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). In a letter addressed to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, the chairmen expressed their concern over GAO's decision, stating it undermines congressional authority and does not align with GAO's described role.

"GAO’s decision to publish observations in this matter is inconsistent with its own plain language description of its role in monitoring ‘agency compliance’ with obligations to ‘submit major and non-major rules to Congress and GAO.’ In passing the CRA, Congress intended for GAO to help safeguard congressional authority through published observations on agency attempts to side-step CRA requirements. GAO’s decision to adversely opine on an agency’s efforts to comply with the CRA is a distortion of its role and could make agencies less likely to follow the intent of this important statute in the future," Chairmen Comer and Guthrie wrote.

California, having passed a law prohibiting the sale of new gas-powered vehicles and instituting an electric vehicle mandate by 2035, required a waiver under the CAA from the EPA. The Biden administration's EPA began reviewing California's request on December 26, 2023, and by December 2024, shortly before the change in administration, approved the regulations. However, the Biden administration did not submit these waivers to Congress. The subsequent Trump EPA administration reversed this decision, recognizing the need to subject the waivers to the CRA process.

"[P]ursuant to a request by three members of the Senate minority, GAO issued a highly unusual adverse declaration after only a matter of weeks. The speed of GAO’s conclusion raises further questions about ideological bias as GAO has typically taken more than three months to study far more conventional questions of CRA compliance," continued the chairmen. "In this case, GAO arguing that Congress cannot use the CRA to repeal the waivers goes well beyond GAO’s advisory role and raises questions about the process, motivations of those involved in the decision, and the institutional understanding of GAO’s role in the CRA process."

For further details, the letter to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro can be accessed for comprehensive information on the concerns raised by Chairmen Comer and Guthrie.