Senate fails to override Biden veto of attempt to overturn truck pollution rule

The Senate on Wednesday failed to override President Biden’s veto of legislation that would have overturned his administration’s truck pollution rule. 

Both chambers of Congress previously passed a measure that would overturn the rule that seeks to limit pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks and buses.

Biden veto of that effort last week required a two-thirds majority in both chambers to be overturned.

The Senate vote Wednesday was 50-50; Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) voted with Republicans in favor of the override. 

Manchin was also the only Democrat who voted with Republicans the last time the issue came before the chamber in April, but with another Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), being absent at the time, the measure advanced. 

The rule in question aims to restrict emissions of pollutants called nitrogen oxides that can contribute to the development of asthma. The regulation is expected to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent in the year 2045 and prevent 2,900 premature deaths that year alone.

Proponents of the rule tout its health benefits, as Biden did in his veto message.

“The rule cuts pollution, boosts public health, and advances environmental justice in communities across the country. It will prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of premature deaths; thousands of childhood asthma cases; and millions of missed school days every year,” the president said last week.

But the rule’s opponents argue that restrictions on trucking will raise the price of goods that are transported with them, worsening inflation. 

“[Environmental Protection Agency] bureaucrats appear not to care that hardworking Americans will have to pay the price for their detached-from-reality mandates. This overly burdensome rule will increase costs for truckers and those costs will be passed on to consumers,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) said in a written statement Wednesday. 

Updated at 2 p.m. EDT.