Ron DeSantis spent years fighting Big Tech surveillance in Florida.
Now he just watched dozens of Republicans hand Biden the ultimate spy tool.
And Ron DeSantis slammed 57 House Republicans when they made one vote that left conservatives shaking their heads in disbelief.
House Republicans hand Biden victory on car "kill switch" mandate
Thomas Massie tried to kill the kill switch Thursday.
The Kentucky Congressman offered an amendment to block federal funding for Biden's 2021 mandate requiring all new cars to have technology that monitors drivers and shuts down vehicles if "impairment" is detected.
Fifty-seven Republicans joined 211 Democrats to defeat Massie's amendment 164-268.
The mandate stays alive.
DeSantis didn't hold back on X.
"The idea that the federal government would require auto manufacturers to equip cars with a 'kill switch' that can be controlled by the government is something you'd expect in Orwell's 1984," DeSantis wrote.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2014500133971296434?s=20
Texas Congressman Keith Self called it "unbelievably disturbing."
"57 House Republicans just joined almost all the Democrats to ensure the government can shut off your car whenever it wants," Self posted.
Massie warned about the implications.
"Your dashboard should not be judge, jury, and executioner," Massie wrote on X.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act buried this mandate in Section 24220.
It directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to force automakers to install systems that "passively monitor the performance of a driver" and "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if impairment is detected."
NHTSA missed its November 2024 deadline for writing the final rule.
The agency admitted it still can't figure out how to tell the difference between drunk driving and drowsy driving.
"NHTSA is continuing to review technology for the ability and potential to detect driver impairment," the agency reported to Congress.
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/2014753767430688884?s=20
They're "working diligently" with automakers to develop sensors that won't strand parents with screaming kids in the backseat or night shift workers driving home exhausted.
Good luck with that.
DeSantis knows surveillance creep when he sees it
DeSantis spent his entire governorship fighting exactly this kind of government overreach.
In 2023, he signed first-in-the-nation legislation blocking Central Bank Digital Currency precisely because it would let the federal government track and control Floridians' money.
"The government and large credit card companies should not have the power to shut off access to your hard-earned money because they disagree with your politics," DeSantis said at the time.
He also banned credit card companies from using special codes to track gun purchases.
DeSantis pushed through Florida's Digital Bill of Rights to protect citizens from Big Tech surveillance.
He forced social media companies to explain their censorship and gave Floridians the right to sue when their data gets misused.
These same Republicans just voted to put surveillance capability in every American's car.
The technology doesn't just detect alcohol.
It uses cameras to track eye movements, monitors how you steer, analyzes your reaction time.
https://twitter.com/TheFreeThought2/status/2016147562550657242?s=20
Once that hardware is standard in every vehicle sold in America, expanding its use becomes a political decision.
Speed limit enforcement? Already being tested.
Emissions monitoring? Climate activists are salivating.
Geofencing to restrict where you can drive? Just a software update away.
The infrastructure will be installed and operational in every new car starting in 2026.
Republicans who sided with Democrats can't explain the vote
Not one of the 57 Republicans who killed Massie's amendment has offered a coherent defense.
Some represent swing districts and probably got lobbied hard by insurance companies and MADD.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving claims the technology will save 10,000 lives annually.
The insurance industry spent over $150 million lobbying in 2021 when this mandate passed.
They love anything that gives them more data on drivers and justification for higher premiums.
Others like Nancy Mace and Don Bacon have track records supporting "safety" measures that expand government power.
The automaker lobbying group Alliance for Automotive Innovation dropped $12 million in 2021 pushing this through.
They'll pass the costs straight to consumers while pretending they care about drunk driving.
Adding these monitoring systems will cost somewhere between $500 and $2,000 per vehicle.
That's on top of new car prices that already average $48,000.
Plus ongoing maintenance, software updates, and dealer visits when the sensors inevitably malfunction.
Wayne Crews from the Competitive Enterprise Institute nailed it.
"This is precisely the kind of overreach that will empower regulatory agencies to manage behavior without votes by elected representatives," Crews warned.
When your car refuses to start because the algorithm thinks you're impaired, there's no cop to argue with.
No breathalyzer to prove you're sober.
No due process.
Just you and a locked steering wheel.
https://twitter.com/Denosko1/status/2014723074822713537?s=20
Massie asked the obvious question nobody wants to answer.
"When your car shuts down because it doesn't approve of your driving, how will you appeal your roadside conviction?"
The law provides zero process for getting out of that lockout.
NHTSA hasn't written rules for restart procedures because they're too busy trying to make the technology work at all.
False positives are inevitable with any system trying to detect impairment.
A December 2024 NHTSA report admitted none of the 331 commercially available impairment detection technologies could meet the law's requirements.
Every single one failed to accurately measure alcohol impairment or distinguish it from fatigue and distraction.
DeSantis understands what 57 of his fellow Republicans apparently don't.
Once the government gains the power to monitor and control, it never gives that power back voluntarily.
It only expands.
Conservatives who spent decades fighting Big Brother just handed him the keys to every American's car.
Sources:
- Leo Briceno and Elizabeth Elkind, "House GOP slammed by conservatives for joining Dems on controversial 'kill switch' amendment," Fox News, January 23, 2026.
- Stephen Rivers, "Congress Keeps Car Kill Switch Alive As GOP Splits Over Safety vs. Surveillance," Carscoops, January 23, 2026.
- Ashley N. Soriano, "Car 'kill switch' rule upholds in House, divides GOP," NewsNation, January 25, 2026.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis Signs First-in-the-Nation Legislation to Protect Against Government Surveillance of Personal Finances," Florida Executive Office of the Governor, 2023.
- "House Preserves Vehicle 'Kill Switch' Mandate Despite Privacy Backlash," Yahoo News, January 26, 2026.
- "A federal 'kill switch' for your car is coming — and neither Democrats nor Republicans will stop it," The Blaze, January 26, 2026.
