EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans Unveil First-of-Its-Kind Plan To Eliminate Fuel Economy Standards That Cost Americans Billions

Sen. Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) is preparing to introduce first-of-its-kind legislation that would scrap fuel efficiency rules for vehicles, regulations that Republicans say have cost consumers billions of dollars, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Crapo's bill would end a decades-old program requiring the federal government to set environmental fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. Crapo, the Senate Finance Committee's chairman, says the bill would save Americans money and ensure the federal government is unable to use the so-called corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) program to implement a "de facto electric vehicle mandate" or other broad climate objectives.

The bill is not a symbolic one. It has five Senate cosponsors, all Republicans, and strong backing from major industry groups. It's also being introduced in time to clear Congress before any shift of control in January.

The Biden administration finalized CAFE standards in 2024 that would have doubled fuel efficiency requirements in new cars, something automakers said was unachievable, costly, and designed to incentivize purchases of expensive electric vehicles. Last year, President Donald Trump reset the CAFE standards, calling the Biden-era regulations "ridiculously burdensome" and "horrible."

Congress created the CAFE program to limit fuel consumption during the 1970s oil crisis, when Arab nations implemented an oil embargo against the United States and other nations that had supported Israel militarily. The United States has since shed itself of dependence on Arab oil, but the CAFE program has persisted and been reimagined as a tool to achieve the left's environmental goals.

While advocates argue the program saves consumers money in the long run by decreasing their spending on fuel, an increase in CAFE standards of just 1 mile per gallon costs consumers an estimated $24.1 billion and automakers an estimated $5.5 billion over 10 years, even when accounting for fuel spending, according to a 2022 report from the right-leaning Mackinac Center for Public Policy. That's because higher fuel efficiency creates high compliance costs that automakers then pass on to buyers.

The CAFE program included fines for automakers that failed to comply with increasing standards. Trump's 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill removed such fines altogether.

Crapo's legislation represents a remarkable move to reduce consumer costs and roll back a program that has become a central pillar in Democrats' and activists' climate agenda. It will therefore likely garner significant pushback from supporters of the program who say it acts as a "cure for pollution."

"It hasn't meaningfully insulated Americans from volatility in global markets," Crapo said in an interview with the Free Beacon. "The oil embargo has ended, but the consistent federal regulatory pressure on the auto industry has continued and increased, which is driving up the cost of automobiles, driving down the choice of options in automobiles and is not saving any dollars significantly to consumers."

Crapo added that the higher costs associated with the program and its potential to be weaponized as a climate program were the driving factors behind his decision to move forward with the bill.

According to Federal Reserve data, following the introduction of CAFE standards in 1975, the average price of new cars rapidly increased. In 1975, the average price of a new car was $4,961, according to data tracked by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, equivalent to roughly $31,799 in 2026 after accounting for inflation. The average price of a new car, however, sits at about $49,758.

At the same time, the United States produces far more oil—in 2025, U.S. producers drilled for 4.96 billion barrels of oil, compared with the 3.1 billion barrels of oil produced in 1975.

Under Crapo's bill, titled the Restoring Affordability in Automobile Manufacturing Act, automakers would not be subject to fuel economy standards beginning with model year 2029 vehicles.

The bill has five cosponsors: Sens. Jim Risch (R., Idaho), Rick Scott (R., Fla.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R., Miss.), Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.), and Alan Armstrong (R., Okla.).

It also has significant industry backing: The American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers both endorsed it. Brent Gardner, the chief government affairs officer for the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, said the legislation would boost affordability and "ensure consumer choice remains the top driving factor for vehicle purchases."

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