Good Saturday morning! Read on for this week's top stories in federal politics. For a full review of the week, plus a look ahead, click the button below and launch the full edition.

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EPA to withdraw waiver allowing California to set auto emissions standards

President Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday that his administration was revoking the federal waiver which allowed California to set its own vehicle emissions standards.

• Under the Clean Air Act, the federal government has sole authority to establish federal emissions standards for automobiles, and states are generally prohibited from adopting their own standards for new motor vehicles. However, the act allowed the state of California to petition the EPA for a waiver allowing the state to develop its own standards if those standards were at least as restrictive federal standards. Under section 177 of the act, if the EPA granted California a waiver, other states were allowed to adopt California standards in lieu of federal standards.
• On Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the “One National Program Rule.” An EPA news release stated, “NHTSA is affirming that its statutory authority to set nationally applicable fuel economy standards under the express preemption provisions of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act dictates that such state and local programs are preempted. For its part, EPA is withdrawing the Clean Air Act preemption waiver it granted to the State of California in January 2013 as it relates to California’s GHG and ZEV programs.”

President Trump campaigns, fundraises in California and New Mexico

President Donald Trump (R) held a campaign rally in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, making an appeal to Latino voters and discussing the Second Amendment, sanctuary jurisdictions, and the Democratic presidential candidates. He also raised $15 million for the joint fundraising committee Trump Victory during a California fundraising trip on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• Three other notable Republicans are running in the primary against Trump: former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former Rep. Joe Walsh, and former Gov. Bill Weld.

Rep. Cook (R-Calif.) announces he won't seek re-election in 2020

Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2020 and will instead run for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Cook was first elected to represent California's 8th Congressional District in 2012, and he won re-election in 2018 by 20 percentage points.

• Cook is the 16th Republican member of the U.S. House to announce he would not be seeking re-election in 2020. There are also four Democratic members of the U.S. House to announce 2020 retirements so far.

Rep. Joe Kennedy (D) expected to announce primary challenge to Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey (D)

Rep. Joe Kennedy (D) is expected to announce today that he will challenge Massachusetts' junior senator Ed Markey (D) in the 2020 Democratic primary, the Boston Globe and others reported.

• Kennedy, the grandson of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and grand-nephew of Pres. John F. Kennedy (D), has represented Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, which includes many of Boston's western suburbs and extends south to Fall River, since the 2012 election.
• Markey was first elected to the Senate to finish John Kerry's term in a 2013 special election and won a full term the following year. He earlier served in the U.S. House, where he was first elected in 1976. Massachusetts' senior senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D) endorsed Markey for re-election in February.

New York City Mayor de Blasio (D) ends presidential campaign

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) ended his presidential campaign. "I feel like I've contributed all I can to this primary election and it's clearly not my time," he said in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

• De Blasio had qualified to participate in the June and July debates but failed to make the stage in September. He is the eighth notable Democrat to leave the race, following the most recent departures of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Seth Moulton.

Yang leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for fifth consecutive week

Andrew Yang's campaign page on Ballotpedia received 4,826 pageviews for the week of September 8-14, which included the third Democratic presidential debate. Yang's pageview figure represented 11.3% of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the week. Joe Biden had 8.7% of the pageviews for the week, followed by Elizabeth Warren with 7.7%. This was Yang's fifth consecutive week leading in pageviews among Democratic candidates.

• Every noteworthy Democratic candidate had more pageviews that week than the week before. The three largest pageview jumps were 78.2% for Julián Castro and 69.4% for Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar.
• On the GOP side, Joe Walsh led the four declared candidates with 7,045 pageviews.
• Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers' attention.

Is Congress in session?

Congress is in session. The Senate and the House will be in session September 23-27. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Trump spoke at a Keep America Great rally in Rio Rancho, NM.
• On Tuesday, Trump participated in round tables with supporters in Portola Valley and Beverly Hills, CA.
• On Wednesday, Trump visited a border wall location in Otay Mesa, CA.
• On Thursday, Trump did not have any public events on his schedule.
• On Friday, Trump met with the Prime Minister of Australia.

Federal judiciary update

• 106 federal judicial vacancies
• 39 pending nominations
• 14 future federal judicial vacancies

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