Staff Reports
The Senate has finally put the brakes on the Biden administration’s recently issued rule on heavy-duty vehicle emissions, which would require trucking companies to adopt new, job-killing standards. The new rule has now been overturned after the Senate voted 50-49, with all Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia voting in favor of stopping the regulation.
The Senate killed Biden's EPA plan https://t.co/BNZLiyfAEH
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 27, 2023
This regulation is another example of the job-killing agenda pushed by the Biden administration, which apparently cares more about kowtowing to the radical left’s climate change agenda than keeping the economy moving. This is not only bad for businesses, it’s bad for hard-working Americans who depend on the trucking industry to provide for their families.
The Senate was right to oppose the @EPA’s unnecessary and unrealistic emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
We should be setting up our trucking and manufacturing sectors for success, not making them pay more or jump through new regulatory hoops. https://t.co/FUrhF1L59V
— Sen. Kevin Cramer (@SenKevinCramer) April 26, 2023
Nobody knows that better than Sen. Deb Fischer of Kansas, who led the charge in repealing this regulation. Fischer points out that small trucking companies would suffer the most under this rule, incentivizing them to keep using older, more polluting trucks for longer, to avoid the costs associated with buying new, more expensive vehicles that are compliant with the standards. Trucking companies should not be forced to choose between keeping their businesses afloat and complying with absurd regulations that harm the environment only marginally.
Democratic Sen. Feinstein’s absence from this crucial vote represents just how out of touch and the neglectful the left has become. In her absence, the vote would have tied 50-50 which would have allowed Vice President Kamala Harris (who is notoriously weak on border security) to prevent the resolution from passing. Whether Feinstein was absent due to poor health due to old age or sheer incompetence, this kind of workplace attendance would not be acceptable in any other industry, and certainly not in the Senate.
At least Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia gave the GOP the single vote they needed to end this government overreach. Manchin’s vote shows that not all Democrats are willing pawns to the leftist agenda. In a written statement, Manchin stated that he joined Republicans to “stop this government overreach,” which is a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak political landscape.
This repeal will now head to the Republican-majority House where it’s expected to pass easily. However, President Joe Biden’s administration is most certainly planning to veto the repeal. It is sad that he is determined to let hordes of Americans struggle even more under the job killing regulations that he is bent on pushing.
