The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 on May 21, excluding provisions of the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act, H.R. 1566.
The bill passed out of committee by a roll call vote of 48-1.
What the REPAIR Act Would Have Required
The REPAIR Act would require vehicle manufacturers to give owners and independent repair shops access to vehicle data related to diagnostics, repair, calibration, and recalibration.
Under the bill's framework, a manufacturer would have been prohibited from impairing an owner's access to such data or preventing aftermarket parts manufacturers from producing or offering compatible parts, with data to be made available through a standardized access platform.
The Motor Vehicle Modernization Act instead codifies the existing industry memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and adds Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority over those agreements.
The two agreements are a 2014 national right-to-repair agreement for light-duty vehicles under 14,000 lbs. and a separate 2015 MOU covering heavy-duty vehicles over 14,000 lbs. The 2014 agreement requires that independent repair facilities have access to the same diagnostic and repair information that auto manufacturers provide to their franchised dealerships.
One State’s Right to Repair Law Hangs in the Balance
A dispute also arose over whether the bill could unintentionally override Massachusetts’ own Right to Repair law, which voters passed with 75 percent support in 2020.
Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) raised concern that the bill's failure to include manufacturer-to-consumer relationships among its list of protected state laws could expose Massachusetts's right-to-repair statute to legal challenge, according to a recap of the markup. Committee Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) responded that the bill contains no such override.
No protective language was added to address the concern, but Guthrie and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) committed to consult the Massachusetts Attorney General before a floor vote. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) cast the only no vote.
The bill heads to the house floor
H.R. 7389 now heads toward floor consideration as part of the broader surface transportation reauthorization, with Guthrie committing to continued negotiations on right-to-repair language before a floor vote. The reauthorization carries a Sept. 30, 2026, deadline.
Earlier this year, the REPAIR Act advanced out of a House subcommittee on a voice vote before the full committee markup produced the substitute language.
