Republicans claimed to have struck a blow for freedom on Friday when the House of Representatives voted to strip all funding from government programmes promoting energy-saving lightbulbs.
The measure, brought as an amendment to an energy spending bill by the Texas Republican Michael Burgess, bars the federal government from using any funds to enforce improved lighting efficiency standards.
In his remarks, Burgess cast the conservation of the old-fashioned 100 watt lightbulb as a burning issue of personal freedom.
"The federal government has no right to tell me or any other citizen what type of lightbulb to use at home. It is our right to choose," he told the House.
He went on to read a letter from a constituent whom he identified only as Dave, who described the old 100 watt bulbs as "having sunshine at your home". LEDs and neon did not suffice, Dave was quoted as saying.
The measure, enacted by voice vote, in effect guts a 2007 law, supported by Republicans and signed by George Bush, that set out 25% higher efficiency standards for lightbulbs, beginning in January 2012.
A new crop of Tea Party Republicans, including the presidential contender Michele Bachmann, dismissed the 2007 law as an assault on individual liberty and an affront to the memory of the lightbulb inventor, Thomas Edison.
An earlier version of the bill was defeated in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Friday's victory, however, will almost certainly be fleeting.
The White House has signalled it will oppose the effort to undo the legislation, and Democrats in the Senate are also mobilising against the measure.
Major lightbulb makers such as Philips and GE had already begun making the new, more efficient bulbs, and opposed the measure. The last factory in the US making the inefficient 100 watt bulbs closed last year.
Some Republicans accused the lightbulb brigade of extremism. "We have had appliance efficiency standards since the 1980s when they were passed into law by Ronald Reagan," said Jim DiPeso, policy director of Republicans for Environmental Protection. "So this whole notion that efficiency standards are an assault on personal freedom just doesn't hold water."
Friday's vote, nonetheless, demonstrated the power of the Tea Party faction to dictate the Republican party agenda – within limits.
Under Tea Party pressure, the House of Representatives voted on Friday to cut federal government spending on the environment by more than $1bn.
But Democrats and Republicans rejected proposals for even bigger cuts to energy efficiency programmes. The House also strongly rejected a proposal to ban a website designed to teach children about energy efficiency.