President Donald Trump has issued a sweeping executive memorandum aimed at delivering what his administration calls the largest deregulatory action in American history, taking direct aim at costly environmental rules that have driven up vehicle prices and restricted Americans’ ability to repair their own cars, trucks, and equipment.
The order directs the Environmental Protection Agency to expand “freedom to fix” protections by clarifying, within 30 days, what vehicle owners may lawfully do when repairing emissions systems on their own vehicles. It also tells the EPA to consider deprioritizing civil enforcement against Americans who make good-faith efforts to restore vehicles to their original configuration.
At the center of the order is a direct challenge to California’s outsized control over aftermarket parts. The memorandum argues that the California Air Resources Board has become a costly, backlogged bottleneck, with approvals taking more than a year and effectively allowing one state to dictate national repair options.
The order also instructs EPA to encourage alternative testing and certification pathways for aftermarket parts that comply with the Clean Air Act, while protecting manufacturers’ intellectual property and cracking down on cheap foreign knockoffs. From a conservative perspective, this is a major win for consumers, farmers, mechanics, small businesses, and American manufacturers.
It pushes back against green bureaucracy, restores practical repair rights, and puts affordability ahead of climate-driven red tape. President Trump is living up to his promise to undo environmental regulations that have killed free markets and consumer choice.
