The Daily Fuckup

The Trump administration’s lawsuit over California’s electric-vehicle rules was already on file by the time this edition went live. The case was filed on March 12, 2026, and as of March 27 it was still working its way through court.

In the complaint, the Justice Department and the Transportation Department say California’s vehicle-emissions program crosses a federal line. Their argument is narrower than a blanket ban on all state fuel rules: they say the state’s greenhouse-gas and zero-emission-vehicle requirements are preempted under federal law because they operate as fuel-economy regulation.

The administration has also made the case in plain economic terms. Officials say California’s rules would raise sticker prices, reduce the range of models available to buyers, and push automakers toward a split market in which one set of cars is built for California and another for the rest of the country. The filing ties that argument to a broader push for one national standard for carmakers.

So the March 27 story is not about a fresh lawsuit. It is about a case already underway, with Washington using cost and preemption as its twin arguments and California facing a challenge that could shape how far states can go in setting cleaner-car rules.