Washington, DC (WVDN) — Today, Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the below statement on the failure to agree to include bipartisan permitting reform legislation in the continuing resolution.
“It’s a shame that our country is losing this monumental opportunity to advance the commonsense, bipartisan permitting reform bill that has strong support in the United States Senate. By taking permitting off the table for this Congress, Speaker Johnson and House Republican Leadership have done a disservice to the incoming Trump Administration, which has been focused on strengthening our energy security and will now be forced to operate with their hands tied behind their backs when trying to issue permits for all of the types of energy and infrastructure projects our country needs. Meaningful permitting reform will continue to be subject to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold next year and cannot be done by executive action alone.
“Unfortunately, this is just another example of politics getting in the way of doing what’s best for the country. Leadership means you must lead and leading means making hard decisions and not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good for all of our constituents.
“I am very proud of the work that my friend and partner, Senator John Barrasso, and I put in over the course of nearly two years with our colleagues on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to get the Energy Permitting Reform Act negotiated, drafted, and through the committee process with a historic 15-4 favorable vote, sending a clear signal that the time is now to get this done. It’s undeniable that our country needs to deliver more energy of all kinds, and this legislation would have achieved that, even more so with the addition of meaningful NEPA improvements that Chairmen Carper and Westerman worked towards over the past several weeks.”
