Joe Biden left a nasty surprise for drivers.
The government is getting control of your vehicle.
And RINOs sabotaged one effort to wreck Biden's car kill switch mandate.
57 Republicans betrayed conservatives on kill switch vote
Thomas Massie knew this fight was coming.
The Kentucky Congressman spent years warning that Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Act buried something dangerous inside its 1,100 pages — a mandate forcing every new car sold after 2026 to have technology that monitors your driving and shuts down your vehicle if a computer decides you're impaired.
Massie offered an amendment to defund Section 24220 of that 2021 law.
The amendment failed 268-164.
57 RINOs joined almost every Democrat to kill it.
"57 House Republicans just joined almost all the Democrats to ensure the government can shut off your car whenever it wants," Texas Representative Keith Self wrote on X.
The law requires "advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology" as standard equipment in all new passenger vehicles.
That technology will "passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle" and "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected."
Your dashboard becomes judge, jury, and executioner for your constitutional right to travel.
Here's how the surveillance actually works in your car
Cameras mounted in your vehicle watch your face and eyes constantly.
Every turn you make gets monitored by steering sensors.
Air sensors scan the cabin for alcohol.
The computer analyzes it all in real-time and decides whether you're "impaired."
Hard braking because a deer jumped in front of you? The computer calls that impaired.
Swerve to avoid debris and the system triggers.
Racing your wife to the hospital because she's in labor? Doesn't matter — you're getting shut down.
The system doesn't know you're having an emergency — it just sees "unsafe" driving patterns and shuts off your engine.
Some automakers are already testing these systems without waiting for final government rules.
No appeal, no override, no human judgment.
Democrats lied about what the law actually does
Representative Jan Schakowsky called Massie's amendment the "Drunk Driver Protection Act."
Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed manufacturers wouldn't actually install kill switches.
Massie read the law out loud on the House floor to prove they were lying.
"During debate last night on my amendment to defund the 2026 kill-switch mandate for cars, some Democrats claimed the technology wouldn't monitor or disable cars," Massie wrote on X.
Then he posted video of himself reading Section 24220 word for word.
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/2014424639821251065
The text couldn't be clearer — the system must "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected."
Fact-checkers at Associated Press, USA Today, and PolitiFact tried gaslighting Americans by claiming there's no "kill switch" because the law doesn't use those exact words.
They admitted the law requires computers that can "disable a vehicle from being operated" but declared warnings about kill switches to be "false."
Representative Harriet Hageman called it "a massive and likely unconstitutional rule and an invasion of privacy on a greater scale than we are used to seeing from our government."
Automakers estimate the technology will add $500 to $2,000 to every new car.
And the law provides zero clarity about how to restart your vehicle after the computer shuts it down on a busy highway.
The 57 Republicans who chose government control over freedom
Representatives Mike Carey of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Gus Bilirakis of Florida all voted to keep the kill switch.
So did vulnerable moderates facing tough reelections — Representatives Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, and Jen Kiggans of Virginia.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blasted the vote as "something you'd expect in Orwell's 1984."
Only two Democrats — Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Lou Correa of California — voted with Massie.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn't issued final rules yet because they're still trying to develop technology that actually works.
But the 2026 deadline is coming whether the technology is ready or not.
"The looming Orwellian automobile kill switch deadline threatens civil liberties," Massie warned.
"When your car shuts down because it doesn't approve of your driving, how will you appeal your roadside conviction?"
The larger spending bill passed 341-88 with bipartisan support.
Republicans funded implementation of Section 24220 while pretending to oppose government overreach.
This goes way beyond drunk driving prevention — this is totalitarian surveillance that give government control over an American's car with the power to strand you whenever a computer algorithm decides you're driving wrong.
And 57 Republicans just voted to make sure it happens.
Sources:
- Cullen Linebarger, "Disturbing: House REJECTS Effort to Defund a KILL SWITCH Mandate For Cars," The Gateway Pundit, January 23, 2026.
- Leo Briceno, "House Republicans slammed by conservatives for siding with Dems on 'kill switch' amendment," Fox News, January 23, 2026.
- Andrew Stiles, "GOP Rift Erupts After 57 Republicans Work With Democrats To Protect 'Orwellian' Way To Shut Off Cars," Daily Caller, January 23, 2026.
- "List of 57 House Republicans Who Voted with Democrats to Let the Government Disable Your Car," International Business Times UK, January 22, 2026.
- "FTC Takes Action Against General Motors for Sharing Drivers' Precise Location and Driving Behavior Data Without Consent," Federal Trade Commission, January 16, 2025.
- Ezra Amacher, "Lawsuit Alleges GM Illegally Sold Arkansans' Driving Data to Insurance Companies," Insurance Journal, February 28, 2025.
