Senate Democrats attempted to block a resolution to overturn a Biden administration regulation hampering domestic energy production Tuesday.
Senators voted 54 to 44 to pass the resolution. Just three Senate Democrats — Catherine Cortez-Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada and John Hickenlooper of Colorado — joined with Republicans to vote “yes” on repealing the Biden administration regulation.
Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy sponsored the resolution, which sought to repeal a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) rule handicapping offshore oil and gas production. The Department of Interior regulation requires new oil and gas leaseholders to issue an archeological report before drilling can commence even if projects have no impact on marine archeological resources.
The Biden administration finalized the BOEM regulation in September 2024, giving Senate Republicans the opportunity to reverse the rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA allows senators to vote on reversing regulations issued in the final months of the prior presidential administration, and the resolution can pass the Senate by a simple majority vote.
Senate Republicans slammed their Democratic colleagues for opposing the resolution to reverse former President Joe Biden’s efforts to rein in offshore oil and gas production, citing energy prices and electricity costs rising sharply under the Biden administration.
I’m grateful to have a president who recognizes and acknowledges the energy emergency facing our nation and is willing to take action. pic.twitter.com/bxMnA0m6v1
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) February 25, 2025
“In September of 2024, the Department of Interior, in a midnight regulation, in an effort to try to further hurt fossil fuels, passed a new rule,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “They said ‘We know we’ve surveyed the entire Gulf [of America] … but every time you drill a new well, we want you to survey again.”
“What’s the benefit?” Kennedy questioned. “We know what the cost is. It costs anywhere from $10,000 to a million dollars to resurvey.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s decision to hold a vote on the energy-focused CRA resolution Tuesday is the first of several efforts Senate Republicans will undertake this week to reverse the former Biden administration’s efforts to limit fossil fuel production.
Thune suggested Senate Democrats are not taking the country’s looming grid reliability problems seriously by voting “no” on the CRA resolution.
“If Democrats acknowledge that we are rapidly approaching an energy crisis, they might have to actually consider the consequences of their energy plans,” Thune said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “If we don’t take action, we’re going to be facing some very serious [power grid reliability] problems in the very near future.”
The United States’ energy demand could outpace available power supply by the end of the decade, according to the consulting firm, Bain & Company. The Biden administration’s stringent environmental and energy regulations notably worsened the country’s grid reliability problems, according to several power grid experts and the Daily Caller News Foundation’s extensive reporting.
“By handcuffing Louisiana and America’s energy production, Pres. Biden hurt our national security and sent prices soaring,” Kennedy said in a press release announcing the introduction of his CRA resolution on Feb. 4. “Congress must act quickly to reverse his lame-duck move to burden oil and gas producers with even more regulations.”
President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office on Jan. 20 to spur domestic energy production and lower energy prices.
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