"The budget office wanted to weaken curbs on cars’ soot- and smog-forming air pollutants as it unraveled a key climate policy."

"White House budget officials leaned on EPA to broaden its rollback of tailpipe regulations as it sought this summer to repeal a foundational EPA policy that undergirds most federal climate rules, including those for cars and trucks.

Rather than just eliminate regulations for climate-warming pollutants such as carbon dioxide, documents show that the White House Office of Management and Budget pushed EPA to weaken limits on other types of vehicular pollution including soot and smog-forming compounds.

EPA resisted the suggestion from the Office of Management and Budget, but the exchange — made public after the proposed rollback was published in July — underscores the Trump administration’s desire to pare back federal regulations, especially those related to the environment and climate change.

The discussion played out in editing remarks as OMB staffers reviewed EPA plans to repeal the endangerment finding — a 2009 decree that gives EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases in the name of protecting public health. EPA has held a public hearing on the rollback proposal and is now reviewing written comments ahead of issuing a final regulation as soon as the end of this year."

Mike Lee and Jean Chemnick report for E&E News November 4, 2025. [2]