President Trump holds up one of three resolutions he signed June 12 at the White House overturning federal approval of the California-led campaign to force automakers to sell more electric and hybrid vehicles. (White House photo)

President Trump signed legislation stopping the California-led push to ban gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, immediately drawing a lawsuit by 10 blue states, including Oregon and Washington.

At a signing ceremony June 12 at the White House, Trump called the electric-vehicle mandate the work of “left-wing radicals in California,” which some states were happy to follow.

Trump thanked Congress for passing resolutions disapproving three rules requiring automakers to sell more electric or hybrid cars, pickups and trucks. One rule would have banned internal-combustion engines in new cars and pickups beginning in 2035.

Congressional action will be permanent, Trump said. “They can’t take us to court. They can’t do any of the things they can do with executive orders,” he said.

The blue states, nevertheless, will try to restore the electric-vehicle mandates with a lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco claims Congress didn’t have authority to kill the mandates.

The lawsuit names Trump and the Environmental Protection Agency as defendants. The suit claims Trump goaded Congress into an illegal action and that the EPA must ignore the resolutions.

“We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a president who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said in an email the lawsuit lacked merit and the agency looked forward to a swift dismissal. “This is nothing more than California throwing a temper tantrum because the American people don’t want the state’s terrible policies,” she said.

The Biden EPA waived federal tailpipe emission standards to allow California to adopt stricter rules. Fighting climate change motivated EV mandates, though California officials lately have shifted attention to air quality.

Other states can stick with federal standards or adopt California’s rules. Some 17 states, including Washington and Oregon, followed California’s lead. California Air Resources Board chairwoman Liane Randolph in 2022 called the ban on new gas-powered cars “world changing.”

The House and Senate overturned the California rules under the Congressional Review Act. The act allows Congress to disapprove of federal rules. The blue states argue the Biden EPA waivers are not federal rules because they don’t apply to all states.

Trump said overturning electric-vehicle mandates will lower the price of cars and electricity. It will allow buyers to choose what they want, he said.

“You can get any car you want. You can get electric. People love the electric. They like Tesla. So do I, in all fairness. I like Tesla,” Trump said.

“Under the previous administration, the federal government gave left-wing radicals in California dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry all over the country, all over the world, actually,” the president said.

Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont joined the West Coast states in suing. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.

Red states had been pursuing lawsuits to over California’s rules. The red states argued Congress should decide whether California can force the restructuring of the vehicle industry to fight climate change.