Trump moves to block California from setting own auto emissions rules

"The Trump Administration is revoking California’s Federal Waiver on emissions in order to produce far less expensive cars for the consumer, while at the same time making the cars substantially SAFER. This will lead to more production because of this pricing and safety advantage, and also due to the fact that older, highly polluting cars, will be replaced by new, extremely environmentally friendly cars. There will be very little difference in emissions between the California Standard and the new U.S. Standard, but the cars will be far safer and much less expensive. Many more cars will be produced under the new and uniform standard, meaning significantly more JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Automakers should seize this opportunity because without this alternative to California, you will be out of business."

Why it matters: California wants to keep toughening the rules — which by proxy means tougher mileage mandates — in a way that's almost as strict as the national Obama-era standards they were following.

• But the White House is moving ahead with plans to freeze the Obama administration's federal emissions and mileage rules instead of allowing them to keep tightening.
• California is certain to battle the effort in court once it's finalized.

The big picture: California is the nation's largest auto market and roughly a dozen other states plan to follow California's emissions standards. This all has the auto industry fearful of a split national market.

Quick take: The EPA move could snuff out any hope automakers might have of avoiding a bitter legal fight between the administration and California that ensures ongoing uncertainty about standards — one where they're caught in the middle.

The bottom line: "This will be the biggest fight in environmental law since the Clean Power Plan. Maybe bigger," Nathan Richardson of the University of South Carolina School of Law, said via Twitter.

The intrigue: The political landscape could shift quickly if a Democrat wins the White House, but that's hardly a guarantee of smooth sailing for the industry either.

• That's because several leading Democratic 2020 hopefuls want to go beyond former President Obama's rules that automakers called unworkable.

• "After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the letter reads.

The state of play: Several White House officials have told Axios' Alayna Treene that the administration has no plans of complying with the committees' demands for interviews or documents without a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: The Trump administration's initial refusal to turn over the whistleblower complaint on the president's interactions with Ukraine is what led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to finally support a formal impeachment inquiry.

Go deeper: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

• Johnson asked the Justice Department earlier this week to look into links between Ukraine and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. His letter questioned the narrative that Biden's actions in Ukraine had nothing to do with his son's connection.
• However, it was also discovered that he signed onto a 2016 letter that mirrored Biden's work to reform Ukraine's prosecutor general and judiciary.
• There is no evidence that Biden's reform work in Ukraine was to protect his son's business dealings, as the president and some of his allies allege, or that he committed any form of corruption.

The state of play: Sondland, a Trump political appointee who donated $1 million to the president's inaugural committee, denied that there was a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine's government in a series of text messages that former Ukraine special envoy Kurt Volker provided to a group of House committees investigating the Trump-Ukraine matter.

• "I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, texted Sondland.
• Sondland texted back: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's of any kind."
• The New York Times reported that Sondland's response came only after he spoke to the president.

Go deeper: House committees release texts from former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker