Supreme Court Deals Crushing Blow To California’s EV Mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court handed President Donald J. Trump another major policy victory Monday, ruling 7–2 in favor of American energy producers challenging California’s radical climate mandates. In a rare rebuke of the Environmental Protection Agency, even one liberal justice sided with the Court’s conservative majority, allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the EPA’s approval of Governor Gavin Newsom’s sweeping electric vehicle regulations.
At the center of the case is California’s demand that all new vehicle sales be electric by 2035, part of Newsom’s plan to force the state into “carbon neutrality” — a scheme critics say is economically devastating and scientifically unsound.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn’t mince words. He said the federal government cannot hide behind bureaucratic technicalities to shield unconstitutional overreach.
“The government generally may not target a business or industry through stringent and allegedly unlawful regulation, and then evade the resulting lawsuits by claiming that the targets of its regulation should be locked out of court as unaffected bystanders,” Kavanaugh wrote.
He continued, pointing out that the EPA’s inconsistent legal stances had further weakened its position:
“EPA has repeatedly altered its legal position on whether the Clean Air Act authorizes California regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles.”
The Court ruled that fuel producers have legal standing to challenge the EPA’s decision to approve California’s far-reaching emissions policies. The ruling clears the path for a full legal assault on the state’s aggressive electric vehicle mandate — one that effectively bans gas-powered cars within a decade.
Kavanaugh summarized the underlying issue plainly:
“As relevant here, those regulations generally require automakers (i) to limit average greenhouse gas emissions across their fleets of new motor vehicles sold in the State and (ii) to manufacture a certain percentage of electric vehicles as part of their vehicle fleets.”
The decision follows President Trump’s recent executive action overturning three key components of California’s green energy agenda — a devastating political blow to Governor Newsom, a rumored 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful.
Chet Thompson, president and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, hailed the ruling as a decisive victory for common sense and constitutional governance:
“The Supreme Court put to rest any question about whether fuel manufacturers have a right to challenge unlawful electric vehicle mandates. California’s EV mandates are unlawful and bad for our country. Congress did not give California special authority to regulate greenhouse gases, mandate electric vehicles or ban new gas car sales, all of which the state has attempted to do through its intentional misreading of statute.”
This marks Newsom’s second defeat before the Supreme Court in just weeks.
In a separate decision, the Court sided with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), granting the agency broader latitude to identify and apprehend illegal immigrants in the Los Angeles region. The 6–3 decision lifted lower-court restrictions that had limited ICE’s ability to conduct “roving sweeps” in areas known for day labor activity.
While the district judge claimed ICE’s methods were “probably unconstitutional,” the justices disagreed, with Justice Kavanaugh writing that brief interviews based on “common sense criteria” — such as language use, occupation, and location — were a reasonable enforcement tool.
The liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor warning that such tactics could allow profiling, writing:
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job.”
Still, the pair of rulings underscore a significant shift in constitutional balance under President Trump’s second term — one restoring federal authority, curbing overreach from activist judges and governors, and reaffirming the rule of law.
For the Trump administration and its allies, Monday’s decisions represent a resounding vindication of the President’s America First agenda — defending energy independence, securing the border, and standing up to blue-state extremism.