Senate Republicans Flirt With Nuking the Filibuster

“No, this isn’t the same as killing the filibuster. This actually goes way, way beyond that. First, they are doing more than going nuclear on the parliamentarian. They are going nuclear on the Congressional Review Act itself,” argued Senator Alex Padilla of California in a speech ahead of the vote.

Let’s rewind a bit—about 30 years ago, to be precise. Since 1996, the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, has allowed Congress to overturn executive agency rules under expedited procedures, meaning that it is not subject to the filibuster, but instead can be vacated with a simple majority threshold. OK, now fast-forward: In 2024, the Biden administration granted California a waiver to implement an electric vehicle mandate. The GAO assessed that this waiver did not count as an executive agency rule, meaning that it could not be subject to the CRA.

In February, the Trump administration sent the rule to Congress, saying that it was a rule and subject to the CRA. Although the GAO reiterated that the waivers did not count as a rule, Senate Republicans pressed forward with a plan to use the CRA to vacate the mandate anyway. In an effort to avoid claims that Republicans were actively ignoring the parliamentarian’s advice, Senate Majority John Thune set up a series of complex points of order in the service of overcoming her ruling that agency waivers are not rules that can be overturned by the CRA.