Two top Senate Democrats are asking oil and gas companies about windfall profits they have made during recent months of high gasoline prices, even as those prices show signs of abating.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, joined with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, top Democrat on the Banking Committee, to send inquiries last week to seven major oil companies, the pair announced Monday.
Publicly traded oil companies’ profits totaled more than $40 billion in the first three months of 2026, which included the beginning of the Iran war, the senators said, citing data compiled by Climate Power, a group that is mainly aligned with Democrats.
Releasing the letters Monday suggests Democrats will continue focusing on energy prices ahead of the midterm elections even if President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran sticks.
