High Court Can Skip Counties’ VW Diesel Software Case, U.S. Says

Two counties’ anti-tampering claims against Volkswagen AG over its post-sale emissions software updates to diesel vehicles should be allowed to proceed without U.S. Supreme Court review because the Clean Air Act doesn’t block them, the Biden administration said in a brief.

The justices had asked for the views of the U.S. in April.

To the extent there’s a split of authority on one of the central issues—the CAA’s implied preemption of the counties’ suits—it’s a “shallow” one that might resolve itself, the Department of Justice said Monday.

The case also presents a poor vehicle to resolve the express and implied ...