A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature would require drivers with a history of speeding to have a speed limiting device placed on their cars.
House Bill 1596 was proposed after supporters say an increase in fatal accidents was caused by speeding. The bill was heard in the House Transportation Committee on Thursday and would require an "intelligent speed assistance device" to be installed in the cars of certain drivers, according to Fox 13.
The device limits the speed of the car using GPS technology to follow the speed limit where the vehicle is being driven. These drivers could exceed the speed limit up to three times a month.
A driver would have the device on their car if they have a new restricted license established by the bill. This is similar to how ignition interlock devices are used for people with a history of drunk driving.
Drivers would also receive the device during the probation period after their license was suspended for racing or "excessive speeding," which is defined as driving at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. Drivers could also be ordered by a court to have a speed-limiting device on their car.
"We’re losing Washingtonians and family members are losing loved ones unnecessarily, tragically and preventably," Democrat state Rep. Mari Leavitt, a prime sponsor of the bill, said.
"These aren’t accidents," she added. "They’re intentionally folks choosing behavior that is harming and often killing folks."
According to data in 2023 from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, one in three fatal crashes in the state involved a speeding driver. The total number of fatal crashes and the number involving speeding has been trending upward since 2019.
"Between 2019 and 2024, tickets to speeding drivers in excess of 50 miles an hour over the speed limit increased by 200%," the commission's Shelly Baldwin testified. "So we know that this is an increasing problem that we’ve been dealing with."
Republican state Rep. Gloria Mendoza questioned how the bill helps keep people safe by allowing speeders to continue driving.
"So we're trying to help them get back their license by giving them this tool," Mendoza said. "So how is this helping save lives?"
Leavitt responded: "We want to find a way for them to be able to drive lawfully, but safely. And having them on the road in a safe manner is going to save lives, because they’re driving anyway, and they’re driving fast. And this device, these speed limiters, are going to ensure that they can't."
DORAL, Fla. — The lawmaker in charge of House Republicans’ elections arm is feeling confident that the GOP can buck historical precedent and hold onto their majority for the entirety of President Donald Trump’s term.
The 2024 elections saw Republicans make significant inroads with Hispanic and Black voters.
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said progress would continue heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
"We’ve done well with African Americans, comparatively," Hudson told Fox News Digital, referring to years prior. "We've put a lot more effort in reaching out to that community as well and letting them know that we want your votes, and we want to represent you, and we care about the issues that matter to you and your family."
"I think we can do better, and we'll continue to attempt to do better. But, look, our message, our values, our principles are all universal."
He said Republicans’ values also lined up with Hispanic and Latino voters, 42% of whom supported Trump, according to the Associated Press.
"We are focused on the issues you care about," Hudson said the pitch was. "It's crime in your neighborhoods. It's education for your children. It's securing the borders. It's the price of things for your family. I mean, these are all things we campaigned on. But we deliberately went out into the Hispanic community and said, ‘We want your vote.’ And they responded."
Earlier in the interview, he credited Trump with delivering on those values in 2024, and argued that Trump’s policies would get Republicans over the line again next year.
Historically, the first midterm after a new presidential term serves as a rebuke of the party in power.
Democrats won the House of Representatives in a "blue wave" in 2018 during Trump’s first term. Four years later, Republicans wrestled it back under former President Joe Biden.
But the circumstances are somewhat different this time, something Hudson noted.
"We’re in a unique time in history, where you had a president serve four years with all his policies, and then he was replaced by another president who had completely different policies. . . . And then the two ran against each other," Hudson said. "So the American people sort of had a referendum on which president they wanted, which policies they chose, and they overwhelmingly selected Donald Trump."
Trump is in his second term, and Hudson argued that the 2024 presidential race was a referendum between two clear White House records.
"He has a mandate that I think is unique in history. And so this isn't a first-term president going into his first midterm. I mean, this is someone the American people know, and they've chosen," Hudson said.
Hudson also pointed out that Democrats will be defending 13 lawmakers whose districts Trump won, while Republicans only had to hold onto three seats that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
"The battlefield out there for us going into 2026 favors Republicans," Hudson said.
He spoke with Fox News Digital at Trump National Doral golf course and resort in South Florida, where Republicans held their three-day retreat to strategize their agenda.
Hudson was one of the senior Republicans who gave a presentation to fellow lawmakers during the event, where his message was: "We’re on offense this cycle."
"We're going to lean in. We have a lot of opportunity in those Donald Trump seats," Hudson said he told colleagues. "We're going to hold Democrats accountable for their voting against the policies the American people want."
Parents are "overjoyed" with the trajectory of the education system under President Donald Trump after years of pushing back on so-called woke practices in schools, a parents' rights education group told Fox News Digital.
During his first two weeks in office, Trump signed several education-related executive orders on school funding and antisemitism, and launched a federal review of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices in federally funded institutions.
Additionally, the Trump administration launched an investigation into a Colorado school district for allegedly "discriminating against its female students" after a girls' restroom was reportedly converted into an "all-gender" facility, while the boys' restroom remained for males only.
Nicole Neily, the founder and president of Parents Defending Education, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the investigation will "open the floodgates" of the Trump administration's expected crackdown on similar policies in schools across the country.
"I think what it is intended to do is to send a signal to families that obviously there's a new sheriff in town. This is a priority. This administration, as the executive orders have made clear, actually views the difference in the sexes to be significant," Neily told Fox News Digital.
On Tuesday, the Department of Education sent a letter to the superintendent of Denver Public Schools to sound the alarm over reports that East High School in Denver was in violation of Title IX after opening up a female-only restroom to all genders.
"For this to be a very clear signal to families, to students, that if your school has engaged in something similar, this is something that the department is interested in looking into and adjudicating," Neily said, adding that the investigation is something "families are going to be really encouraged by."
Neily said that in recent years, parents "have been gaslit by our states, by our local school districts, by the federal government" all because "we want our children to have a colorblind education," but that the educational system is already undergoing "sorely overdue" change under Trump.
During his first week in office, the president launched a federal review of DEI teachings and practices in educational institutions receiving federal funding, in an effort to restore "merit-based opportunity," according to the White House.
Trump, prior to being sworn in, said he was open to considering abolishing the Department of Education in order to give states more individual control over their schools. Asked about the idea, Neily said she believes that states "know their communities, their needs, their values better than anybody in Washington ever can or would."
"I think there's a real opportunity to make sure that the department is focusing on the things it should be, which is educating children, restoring trust in the system and not doing things like giving out the billion dollars in DEI-focused grants," she said.
The Trump administration will be imposing tariffs through its new International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the tariffs Saturday, which will go into effect Tuesday, consisting of a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.
Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff, according to the White House. In a statement obtained by Fox News Saturday, the Trump administration said the legislation is a response to an "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, (that) constitutes a national emergency."
"This challenge threatens the fabric of our society," the executive order states. "Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities.
"Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs."
In a fact sheet released by Trump officials, the White House said the tariffs are meant to hold the three countries accountable for "their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country."
The changes were widely expected after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday the tariffs would roll out over the weekend.
On the same day, Trump told reporters the U.S. may also increase tariffs on imports from the European Union, arguing the tariffs would make the U.S. "very rich and very strong."
"We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. "I made a promise on my Campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it."
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
The Trump administration is implementing tariffs through its new International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In a statement obtained by Fox News on Saturday, the White House said that the legislation comes amid an "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency.
"President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff," the statement read.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Saturday elected Minnesota party leader Ken Martin, who once called for President Donald Trump to be tried for treason, as its next national chair in the wake of the party's disastrous performance in the November elections.
The election of Martin is the party's first formal step to try and rebound from the November elections, in which President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, and Republicans flipped the Senate, held on to their fragile majority in the House and made major gains with working-class, minority and younger voters.
"We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party," Martin said following his victory. "The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country."
Martin, over the past eight years, has served as a DNC vice chair and has led the association of state Democratic Party chairs.
In 2020, Martin called Trump a "traitor" who should be tried for treason.
"[Donald Trump] should be immediately impeached and then put on trial for treason," Martin wrote on June 29, 2020, citing an anonymously sourced news story. "His actions led to the deaths of American soldiers. He is a traitor to our nation and all those who have served."
He topped Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler by over 100 votes among the 428 DNC members who cast ballots as they gathered for the party's annual winter meeting, which this year was held at National Harbor in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.
Martin O'Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration during former President Biden's last year in office, was a distant third in the voting.
Among the longshot candidates were Faiz Shakir, who ran the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Marianne Williamson, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 and 2024 Democratic presidential nominations. Williamson endorsed Martin on Saturday, ahead of the vote.
The eight candidates in the race were vying to succeed DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who decided against seeking a second straight four-year term steering the national party committee.
With no clear leader in the party, the next DNC chair could become the de facto face of Democrats from coast to coast and will make major decisions on messaging, strategy, infrastructure and where to spend millions in political contributions.
"It's an important opportunity for us to not only refocus the party and what we present to voters, but also an opportunity for us to look at how we internally govern ourselves," longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley told Fox News Digital.
Buckley, a former DNC vice chair who backed Martin, said he's "very excited about the potential of great reform within the party." He emphasized that he hoped for "significantly more support for the state parties. That's going to be a critical step towards our return to majority status."
In his victory speech, Martin stressed unity and that the party needed "to rebuild our coalition."
"We need to go on offense," Martin said. "We're going to go out there and take this fight to Donald Trump and the Republicans."
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who succeeded President Biden last July as the party's 2024 standard-bearer, spoke with Martin, Wikler and O'Malley in the days ahead of Saturday's election, Fox News confirmed. But Harris stayed neutral in the vote for party chair.
In a video message to the audience as the vote for chair was being tabulated, Harris said that the DNC has some "hard work ahead."
But she pledged to be with the party "every step of the way," which could be a signal of her future political ambitions.
The debate during the three-month DNC campaign sprint mostly focused on the logistics of modern political campaigns, such as media strategy and messaging, fundraising and grassroots organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts. On those nuts-and-bolts issues, the candidates were mostly in agreement that changes are needed to win back blue-collar voters who now support Republicans.
But the final forum included a heavy focus on race and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, issues that appeared to hurt Democrats at the ballot box in November.
The forum, moderated and carried live on MSNBC and held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., devolved into chaos early on as a wave of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event, heckling over concerns of climate change and billionaires' influence in America's elections before they were forcibly removed by security.
The chair election took place as a new national poll spelled more trouble for the Democrats.
Only 31% of respondents in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted over the past week had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the party in an unfavorable light.
"This is the highest percentage of voters having an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question," the survey's release noted.
Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable view of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable opinion for the Republican Party ever in Quinnipiac polling.
Ask many of Congress' frequent fliers, and they'll tell you Ronald Reagan National Airport has sent up red flags for years.
"I've long been very, very nervous about congestion at Reagan National," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
"The congestion of the airspace around Reagan and D.C. as a whole definitely played a part in this," said Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a former firefighting pilot. "The sheer number of aircraft in the air is as high as it's ever been."
"A lot of aircraft transit up and down the Potomac," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy combat pilot and astronaut. "Getting in and out of certain areas. The Pentagon. Other military installations. Reagan right there in that highly trafficked area."
"Whenever I'm at Reagan and I see new gates being built, the terminal getting larger, I realize that there will never be another inch of runway. The skies are pretty congested," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. "I often think there's too much activity for this small plot of land. And I'm sure there'll be a reevaluation of all of that."
The nation’s worst air disaster in nearly a quarter-century spilled into the Potomac River just short of Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. Sixty-seven people died after American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kan., collided with an Army Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter feet from the runway.
Aviation experts say flying in and out of Reagan National is one of the most complicated airports in the country. The approach from both the north and south is over water. Pilots must navigate a narrow corridor above the river – but not fly over the nearby Pentagon. That’s to say nothing of piercing Washington, D.C.’s super-protective airspace. The White House and U.S. Capitol are clearly visible when planes take off to the north.
Moreover, the airport is known for notoriously short runways. The runway on which the American Eagle flight attempted to land stretches a little more than 5,200 feet. Slightly less than a mile in length.
That’s not even the main runway. Standard commercial runways average around 13,000 feet. The longest runway at Reagan National is about 7,000 feet. Plus, all three runways cross one another. Such a configuration is rarely seen at modern airports.
Last spring, there were two incidents where planes nearly crashed into one another while crossing runways.
The runways are some of the most overused in the entire American flight system. The airport was designed to handle 14 million passengers annually. But that number spiked to 25 million in 2023. The airport accommodates a staggering 800 takeoffs and landings each day.
There were efforts to close Reagan National when Dulles International Airport opened in 1962. Dulles is a monstrosity of a campus. However, it resides nearly 30 miles from Washington, D.C., proper. The nation’s movers and shakers never gravitated to Dulles when it was so easy to fly into Reagan National, deplane, catch a cab and arrive at the State Department for a meeting 15 minutes later.
Lawmakers, aviation, national security officials and the Secret Service conducted serious conversations about permanently closing the airport after 9/11. It was thought that air traffic in and out of Reagan National posed too much of a risk to the seat of government. It wouldn’t take much for hijackers to commandeer an aircraft and reroute it to Capitol Hill.
After all, one plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. The fourth plane – which went down in a field near Shanksville, Penn. – was ultimately bound for the Capitol.
That said, advocates for maintaining Reagan National argued it was nearly impossible to hijack a plane taking off and immediately send it barreling toward the Capitol. It takes a while to engineer a hijacking. There was simply not enough time to execute such a plan seconds after takeoff.
Still, authorities shuttered Reagan National for more than three weeks following 9/11. New safety rules were in place once the airport re-opened. Planes couldn’t have more than 156 seats. All passengers were required to be seated a half-hour before landing. Air marshals patrolled most if not all flights in and out of the airport.
The feds loosened many of those restrictions anywhere from a few months to nearly four years after 9/11. But that didn’t diminish questions about the safety of this particular airport.
However, proponents of maintaining Reagan National had some of the most powerful allies in the nation: Members of Congress.
Lawmakers keep insane schedules. In fact, the invention of the jet airplane contributed to such bedlam. Lawmakers are in high demand in their districts or states – and on Capitol Hill. That’s to say nothing of conferences in Aspen or Halifax – and glitzy fundraisers in New York or San Francisco. So air travel, coupled with access to a nearby airport, is paramount in the modern Congress.
Mondays or Tuesdays are often deemed "fly-in" days. The House and Senate don’t truly get going until late in the day during the first day of the week. Thus, votes on Monday might not unfold until 5:30 pm et in the Senate and 6:30 in the House. Depending on if the House (and sometimes the Senate) convenes on a Monday or Tuesday, Thursdays and Friday are considered "getaway" days. The House might cut town by late morning or noon on a getaway day. If the Senate doesn’t toil for five days (which has happened a lot this year, but not this week), the last vote often hits around 2:15 or 2:30 pm. on a Thursday.
Thus, lawmakers have a vested interest in keeping Reagan National operational. Even after 9/11.
Congress reauthorized programs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years in 2024. But one of the most contentious issues in the bill was whether Congress should authorize additional daily "slots" for Reagan National. New, regular flights commence in a few weeks to Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, San Antonio and San Francisco. Lawmakers have blessed an increase of about 50 additional daily "slots" at Reagan National since the turn of the century.
It’s telling that only four senators opposed the FAA bill last year. All four were the local Washington, D.C., area senators: former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., – who just retired – along with Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Kaine.
The Senate confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on a bipartisan vote Tuesday. Duffy faced a crisis by Wednesday night. By Friday, the new secretary tightened up airspace around Reagan National for helicopters.
But like everything in Washington, the key to Reagan National is all about access. It’s hard to find any major airport on the planet located so close to the levers of power.
And as long as the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a myriad of federal agencies and lobbying shops exist in Washington, it’s doubtful that Reagan National is going anywhere.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hit back at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday, after the activist group sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club promising to send them a vegan "weather reveal cake" if they agreed to stop pulling Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow for his Feb. 2 prognostication.
"Come and take it," Shapiro tweeted in response to a New York Post story on PETA's demand.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, told Fox News Digital the governor stands by his comments and said he will again make the trip to Gobbler's Knob in Jefferson County on Sunday to witness Phil's 138th meteorological prediction.
Shapiro has been on-hand for every Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney since taking office in 2023.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told the Post that Phil is denied the traditional lifestyle of a groundhog "for a tired old gimmick."
Visitors to Punxsutawney year-round can visit Phil and his "wife," Phyllis, at the borough library. On this reporter's last visit to the area, the rodents had recently become proud parents to a new baby groundhog, as well.
While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday and has even been popularized in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film of the same name, the day — and Phil himself — hold a special place in many Pennsylvanians' hearts.
In addition to the large ceremony in western PA, throughout the rest of the Commonwealth, many historically Pennsylvania German communities are home to a "Grundsau Lodsch" or Groundhog Lodge.
Each lodge holds an annual banquet or "Versommling" in honor of their totem – Phil – with "Lodsch Nummer Ains an de Lechau" (Lodge #1 on the Lehigh River) in Allentown hosting theirs annually on the February 2 holiday itself since 1934.
Nineteen other lodges based around the state have held "Versommlinge" for decades, as well.
However, three — "#2, Schibbach" in Montgomery County, "#3, Temple U." in Philadelphia County and "#5, Bind Bush" in Schuylkill County — have gone defunct in recent years as the Pennsylvania German language and culture see a decline in younger generations.
A March 2024 Versommling for "Lodge #18 an de Forelle Grick" (on Trout Creek) in Slatington featured local beer on tap, a traditional Pennsylvania German supper, stories and riddles from lodge elders told in the Pennsylvania German language, and, of course, representations of Phil himself.
Until recently, it was the custom of groundhog lodges to forbid English-speaking in favor of "Pennsilfaanisch," lest the violator toss a nickel in a donation jar on their table.
Other states' groundhogs have been less lucky than Phil, as then-New York Mayor Bill de Blasio infamously dropped Staten Island Chuck during a 2014 ceremony in West New Brighton. Chuck later died from internal injuries after appearing to land on his head.
With the importance Groundhog Day and Phil himself hold to Pennsylvania past-and-present, Bonder said Shapiro will continue to defend the groundhog and his tradition, and will be on hand for future wintertime prognostications in Punxsutawney.
LGBT activists and groups are already mobilizing to block gender-related executive orders President Donald Trump signed since taking office to fulfill one of his key campaign promises to crack down on "gender ideology extremism." And more legal challenges are expected in the coming weeks.
The executive orders, signed in late January, include a reinstatement of the ban on transgender troops in the military, a ban on federal funding for sex changes for minors and a directive requiring federal agencies to recognize only "two sexes," male and female, in official standard of conduct.
"This ban betrays fundamental American values of equal opportunity and judging people on their merit," Jennifer Levi, director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), said in a statement about the trans military ban.
"It slams the door on qualified patriots who meet every standard and want nothing more than to serve their country, simply to appease a political agenda."
GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), were among the first groups to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration for its military ban. The lawsuit, Talbott v. Trump, was brought forward on equal protection grounds by six active-duty service members and two individuals attempting to enlist, according to the groups' announcement.
The plaintiffs include a Sailor of the Year honoree, a Bronze Star recipient and several who were awarded meritorious service medals. They were identified as U.S. Army Reservist Lt. Nicolas Talbott, Army Maj. Erica Vandal, Army Sgt. First Class Kate Cole, Army Capt. Gordon Herrero, Navy Ensign Dany Danridge, Air Force Master Sgt. Jamie Hash, Koda Nature and Cael Neary. The latter two are civilians who are seeking to enlist in the military.
Another lawsuit, filed by a transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments, is challenging Trump's executive order that ends medical transgender treatments – such as hormones, sex changes and grooming accommodations – for federal prisoners.
The unnamed inmate, who goes by "Maria Moe" in court documents and is represented by GLAD Law, NCLR and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, is claiming Trump and the Bureau of Prisons are violating the Fifth and Eighth amendments and claims to be "at imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria."
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston temporarily blocked BOP officials from transferring "Maria Moe" to a men's prison, according to a ruling released by the inmate's attorney Thursday. The temporary restraining order was issued Sunday, the same day the suit was filed.
Prison officials are expected to keep the inmate in the women's prison general population and maintain her transgender medical treatments, NBC first reported.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Trump's other executive orders, too, especially Trump's immigration-related policies. More are expected in the coming weeks.
A memo released Wednesday by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management provided guidance on directing federal agencies to acknowledge that women are biologically female and men are biologically male, Reuters reported. Trump said last week federal funds would not be used to promote "gender ideology."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the litigation but did not hear back before publication.
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: One of the top Republican lawmakers in the key swing state of Arizona has sent a letter to President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting that the administration "prevent California from dictating the country’s energy policy."
"California’s radical rules will harm Arizona families by increasing costs, impacting jobs, and limiting consumer choice," Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen said in a letter to the EPA. "By taking swift action, EPA can reverse the Biden Administration’s erroneous approval of California’s extreme rules."
In the letter, Petersen praised Trump’s reversal of burdensome regulations thus far, saying that his executive orders, including rolling back the EV mandate, are "important energy steps that will help usher in America’s Golden Age."
However, Petersen warned in his letter that California environmental waivers and regulations create a ripple effect that harms other places in the country, including Arizona.
"Victims of California’s war on fossil fuels include Arizonans who conduct business or make purchases in California," Petersen wrote. "California’s radical rules also will indirectly affect Arizonans by increasing the cost, and decreasing the availability, of vehicles and products. Even Governor Katie Hobbs has been forced to recognize that California’s extreme policies can negatively impact Arizonans."
"California’s radical rules raise serious legal concerns relating to equal state sovereignty19 and the major "questions doctrine, among many others. EPA should take immediate action to remove these legal concerns, starting by submitting the approvals for California’s rules to Congress for evaluation under the Congressional Review Act," he continued. "According to legal experts, ‘Congress can quickly disapprove the waivers and send a resolution to the White House for presidential signature. Ballgame over.' As those experts note, Congressional Review Act decisions are final and unassailable in court because the Act expressly provides that ‘[n]o determination, finding, action, or omission under this chapter shall be subject to judicial review.’"
Petersen's letter continued, "Like it did during President Trump’s first administration, EPA also should revoke California’s ability to independently regulate greenhouse gases."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Petersen said, "Over the past four years, the State of California and the Biden Administration teamed up to impose a radical environmental agenda on the United States, compromising our energy independence, crushing freedom of choice, and endangering our national security."
"I, like many of my fellow Arizonans and Americans, am thrilled to see the Trump Administration putting an end to these schemes. The State of Arizona looks forward to assisting our new president, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Members of Congress in their efforts to prioritize and protect our country's interests," he said.
Petersen, who has filed paperwork to run for attorney general in Arizona, also sent a letter to Arizona's congressional delegation voicing the same concerns.
"As President of the Arizona State Senate, I write to urge you to block radical California rules that ban gas-powered cars and leaf blowers," he wrote.
"These policies will harm Arizona families by increasing costs, impacting jobs, and limiting consumer choice. The Congressional Review Act empowers you to reverse the Biden Administration’s last-minute approval of these extreme policies, which I encourage you to do."
