House GOP Leaders Hope Senate, Biden Will Adopt Energy Bill

The House believes that the Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1), passed on March 30th, has a chance of becoming a law, despite Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s statement that the Senate will consider it “dead on arrival” and President Joe Biden’s indication that he would veto it. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) believes that both Schumer and Biden may change their minds as they have done so previously on specific issues.

The Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1) is designed to reduce fuel prices for working Americans. The 175-page bill consolidates 18 separate pieces of legislation to diminish regulations on oil and gas production, improve mineral leases on public lands, spend money on pipelines and refineries, as well as roll back some environmentally oppressive provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. Supporters of the bill claimed that it was essential to increasing fuel output in order to reduce costs for working families and contribute to America’s independence from foreign energy. Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), the sponsor of the bill, stated that citizens are ‘sick and tired’ of paying significantly more at the pump and for electricity as a result of the country’s dependence on Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela for fuel.

Democrats who opposed the bill argue that it would increase taxpayer costs and raise corporate profits, leaving American citizens to pay for environmental cleanup. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) stated during floor debate that the bill would cause policies that would add to the deficit and incur billions of dollars in environmental costs. The provision of H.R. 1 estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the legislation would increase the deficit by $2.4 billion over the following decade and would increase budget deficits by more than $5 billion in at least one of the four subsequent decades.

Bipartisan Support

The bill received bipartisan support, with four Democrats voting for and six others not voting. One Democrat who voted for H.R. 1 believed that its benefits outweighed its drawbacks. Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Jared Golden of Maine also voted for the bill. Many House Democrats voted against the bill but found some of its amendments appealing. Amendments aimed at accelerating the permit application process were adopted. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) believes that the strong public opinion combined with bipartisan support could force President Biden to reconsider his stance on the matter.

House GOP leaders are optimistic that the Senate and President Biden will adopt the sweeping energy bill passed by the House. McCarthy and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) have faith that Biden and Schumer may revise their opinions on the legislation. McCarthy hopes to use the enthusiasm for progress among Senate Democrats, such as Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), to sway the Senate’s opinion of the bill.