Senate Democrats on Wednesday failed for a second time to convince a single Republican to block President Donald Trump’s energy emergency declaration that allows the administration to bypass environmental regulations to build energy projects of his preference.
While the vote — 47-51— was a failure, it did give Democrats the chance to decry high energy prices, a message the party hopes to ride to electoral success in next year’s midterm elections.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who introduced S. J. Res. 71 to terminate the emergency declaration with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), said in floor debate ahead of the vote that the Trump order issued on his first day back in office was a “sham.” He pointed out domestic energy production was at an all-time high in January at the start of Trump’s second term.
“Where’s the emergency?” he asked. He argued the declaration was nothing more than a giveaway to the oil industry, saying that Trump “put his thumb on the scale for those donors and hamstring other affordable energy sources.”
Trump has argued that the road to “energy dominance,” as he and his administration put it, is via fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal. Indeed, in the first few months of his administration, he has sought to prop up those energy sources at the expense of renewable energy like solar and wind.
Democrats had hoped moderate Republicans might be sympathetic to their argument that Trump’s legislative agenda and administrative actions had stymied energy production at a time of rising demand. But none rebuked the president.
Under the National Emergencies Act, the president can declare a crisis to accelerate the approvals of projects and potentially use eminent domain for production, refining and power generation.
As a practical matter, the law allows Congress to review such declarations every six months. Lawmakers can vote to reject the president’s declaration by a simple majority in both chambers. Should it have reached his desk, Trump would have certainly vetoed the resolution.
‘Fossil fuel gaslighting’
Wednesday’s proceedings, as Congress continues to grapple with a partial government shutdown, featured a parade of Democrats test-driving their energy price messaging.
In speeches, they asserted Trump’s federal infrastructure funding cuts coupled with the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which phased out solar and wind tax credits, are causing electricity bills to increase by 10 percent for everyday Americans.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called the declaration “fossil fuel gaslighting” of the American people. “Since Trump took office, electricity prices have gone up more than 10 percent,” he said.
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) argued that Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda was nothing more than a “hollow campaign slogan.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) blasted the Trump administration’s stop-work order against Revolution Wind, a massive project off Rhode Island that was nearly complete — “a project well underway well before the trumped-up energy emergency.” The order has since been reversed by a federal judge.
And Heinrich, ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, took aim at the Energy Department for recent funding cuts. He also lamented the Interior Department for holding up routine permits for solar and wind projects on federal lands.
In addition, he argued that steep tariffs on steel and aluminum have been driving up infrastructure costs. “They are blocking energy from coming onto the grid,” he said. “The real story — the real impact — is in your budget, in your electric bill.”
He added: “And I have bad news: It’s about to get a whole lot worse.”
This story also appears in Energywire.
