Trump administration backs push for Supreme Court to scrap gas furnace rule

The Trump administration on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Biden-era rule that would soon block the sale of non-condensing natural gas furnaces. 

Catch up quick: The Department of Energy in 2023 finalized a rule requiring all residential gas furnaces manufactured after December 18, 2028, to have an AFUE rating of at least 95 percent. 

• Gas industry groups sued the agency in response, arguing that the rule would effectively force non-condensing furnaces out of the market; however, a federal appeals court in November 2025 upheld the rule. 

What’s happening: In January 2026, the gas groups appealed to the Supreme Court, and industry associations, including HARDI and PHCC, as well as 21 Republican attorneys general, have since filed briefs in support of the gas companies’ position. Now, in a brief filed Tuesday, the Department of Justice is throwing its weight behind the push. 

• Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the High Court to grant the gas companies’ petition and send the case back to the lower court, as “the government agrees with [the groups’] contention,” he wrote. 
• “Under the current Administration, the Department is committed to protecting consumers’ ‘freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances,’” he added, quoting a 2025 White House fact sheet.  

Of note: A federal law bars the DOE from imposing efficiency standards that are likely to cause a product with distinct “performance characteristics” to become unavailable, and the gas groups contend that non-condensing furnaces have such a distinction, as they typically vent through chimneys.

• Installing condensing furnaces “will often require homeowners to make significant alterations to their residences,” they say. “These include punching new holes through exterior walls for plastic vents, running new piping through living areas, rewiring electrical systems, and abandoning functional chimneys.” 

The other side: “Keeping the most outdated, inefficient furnaces on the market would mean higher utility bills for families,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, per an E&E News report. “The Trump administration is siding with gas utilities over people who just want to keep their house warm without it costing an arm and a leg.”

• Proponents of the rule have said it will prompt U.S. households to switch to more efficient condensing furnaces, save an average of $350 over the life of a furnace, and cut emissions. 

What we’re watching: The Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided whether to take up the case. It hears roughly one percent of cases it’s asked to review.