A vote in the Senate on whether to override a veto from President Joe Biden of a GOP-backed resolution that would’ve trashed new emissions standards for certain vehicles has failed, meaning the veto remains in place and the underlying rules that were challenged also remain.
“The final program includes new, more stringent emissions standards that cover a wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions compared to today’s standards, and it requires these more stringent emissions standards to be met for a longer period of time of when these engines operate on the road,” a government explanation of the rules that Republican legislators were challenging said.
In order to override Biden’s veto and successfully turn back that regulatory clock, backers would’ve needed a two-thirds majority in the chamber, and instead they only accumulated 50 votes. With West Virginia’s Joe Manchin joining those who opposed the stricter emissions rules, the vote was evenly split, with exactly 50 also voting to effectively leave the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plans alone. The new standards that Republicans sought to upend were finalized at the end of last year.
Elsewhere in Congress, the House also recently held a vote on whether to override a presidential veto of Republicans’ attempt to discard the president’s plan for sweeping relief from student loan debt, and that vote also failed, though the underlying program remains separately held up by court challenges in which a U.S. Supreme Court decision could come soon. The opposition to the student loan forgiveness provided by that program received minute levels of Democratic support, including a few backers from the party’s caucus in the Senate. The Biden administration has already secured tens of billions of dollars in student debt relief in narrower initiatives, like a program that helps borrowers now in public service jobs. That list includes teachers.
Other vetoes from the president have included a rejection of a GOP plan to throw out a police reform plan that was approved in D.C., where local leaders’ decisions often fall subject to Congressional review because of the district’s distinct governance situation. The plan that Republicans wanted to effectively nullify included a ban on the use of chokeholds and other asphyxiating maneuvers by police officers.
