Senate bipartisan permitting deal faces a House buzz saw

Por Nico Portuondo — POLITICO – TOP Stories

The Senate’s newly announced bipartisan permitting reform package is set to hit a wall in the House, where one Democratic committee leader is already raising red flags over the legislation.

House Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) warned Wednesday most House Democrats will not support the Senate’s permitting legislation as written, urging them to resume negotiations after the midterm elections.

“The bottom line for me, and I believe most Democrats, is that November 3rd is coming and we are likely to soon have a far better negotiating position,” Huffman said in a statement. “Folding our hand now or in the lame duck makes no sense when we can keep working on this and, in a few more months, have a much better deal that works for everyone.”

Huffman is betting that Democrats will at least win control of the House and maybe the Senate, giving them greater leverage in negotiations with Republicans. He argues that lawmakers should push talks into next year. Even if Democrats gain control of both chambers, however, they would still have to negotiate with the Trump administration.

The Republican and Democratic heads of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and the Environment and Public Works committees reached a long-sought deal this week on legislation that would shorten the lengthy process for approving major energy projects. Their package has the backing of the White House and Senate Republican leadership.

Senators are hoping to pass the legislation after the midterm elections. Whether it can reach President Donald Trump’s desk is in question.

Huffman isn’t alone is suggesting the permitting deal might not be set in stone: One key House Republican negotiator didn’t explicitly get behind the Senate deal Wednesday.

Ben Mullany, a spokesperson for House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), did not explicitly endorse the agreement in a written statement, instead emphasizing the committee’s own efforts to advance permitting reform.

“Throughout this Congress, Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have been fighting to cut red tape and remove the federal barriers to building the energy infrastructure Americans need,” Mullany said. “We look forward to working with our Senate colleagues on a bipartisan, bicameral path forward for permitting reform measures.”

Guthrie has his own permitting reform legislation, the POWER Act, which Mullany said incorporates “bills that have passed the House through regular order and with bipartisan support.” The measure remains a discussion draft and has not been formally introduced.

House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) was more supportive of the Senate agreement, calling its announcement “an encouraging step toward fixing our nation’s permitting challenges.” He said he would continue working with senators to “make permitting reform a reality.”

Huffman’s objections

Huffman has raised several objections to the legislation, including what he described as the erosion of key protections under environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act. Major green groups also criticized the package after its announcement, arguing that it would roll back important environmental protections.

“Democrats need to wake up to these dangerous ploys being pushed by Big Oil and Big Tech that Americans of all walks of life, in communities big and small, are overwhelmingly opposed to,” said Food and Water Watch Director Jim Walsh.

Not all Democrats agree with Huffman’s approach. Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a longtime advocate for permitting reform, called the package a “great step toward fixing our broken permitting system,” while acknowledging that some adjustments and clarifications may be necessary.

A former House Democratic aide who has been involved in past permitting talks, granted anonymity to speak candidly, also cautioned against waiting for greater negotiating leverage.

“I think you could see, on both sides on the extreme levels, is we’re just gonna wait until we can get a better deal,” the aide said. “And that’s why permitting reform fails time and time again.”

It’s unclear where most of the Democratic caucus will end up on the legislation. If Republicans largely support the package and bring it to a floor vote, they may not need significant Democratic support to pass it.

In the previous Congress, bipartisan permitting reform legislation negotiated by then-Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) failed to advance in the House. Disagreements over transmission policy were a key point of contention between the Senate and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, then led by former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).

Devin Hartman, president of the fiscally conservative think tank Lighthouse Energy Institute, said the latest package’s transmission provisions are more ambitious, while Republican attitudes toward transmission have also shifted.

“Republicans are more open to transmission policy given the rise in power demand and the focus in affordability, and the phase out of the renewable energy tax credits also helped,” he said, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill’s phase-out of Inflation Reduction Act renewable energy tax credits.

Watchers are also closely following Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse‘s (D-R.I.) assurances that he’ll push for more from the White House, outside of the current text, on certainty for renewable energy project permits. Greater assurances could sway Democrats, while the House Freedom Caucus could push back on limits on Trump’s power.

The Trump administration signaled it supports the deal as is.

“We support this deal, which will deliver transformative policies to lower Americans’ energy and housing costs, drive new construction and investment in American infrastructure, and create American jobs,” a White House spokesperson said. “We look forward to seeing it pass quickly.”

Ultimately, if the package passes the Senate, its fate in the House may rest with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Neither office responded to requests for comment.

Andy Picon contributed to this report.

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories