A key player in Congress’ permitting reform negotiations is calling for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass a deal after Senate Democrats signaled Monday that they are stepping back from the discussions.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee suggested on social media Monday evening that Republicans ought to break with Senate precedent and pursue a more partisan strategy for advancing permitting legislation.
The Utah Republican’s comments add a new wrinkle to the already fraught negotiations around streamlining reviews for infrastructure and energy projects, and they threaten to alienate Lee — whose support for a final deal is crucial — from his Senate counterparts, who are seeking a bipartisan compromise.
“If Senate Democrats cut off permitting-reform talks, this will make ending the zombie filibuster of immediate, paramount importance,” Lee posted on X from his personal account.
He then responded to the Democrats’ decision to back out of the talks for now from his official Senate account, posting a GIF that features the statement, “It’s a bold strategy. … Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.”
Lee’s statements come after the permitting talks hit a new low Monday in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to immediately and indefinitely pause five offshore wind projects along the East Coast in order to conduct additional reviews. The administration is citing national security risks.
The Interior Department’s announcement came just days after House Republican leaders struck a deal with conservatives and opponents of offshore wind to pass a bipartisan permitting bill that was poised to be the centerpiece of a potential future deal with the Senate.
The deal would exempt certain projects targeted by the administration from language meant to protect permits. Bill sponsors said they agreed to the tweak to keep the discussions going.
Interior’s decision infuriated Democrats and some Republicans, who have advocated for “project certainty” as part of the permitting negotiations. Moderate GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans has been a defender of an offshore wind project off Virginia.
Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) issued a statement saying the pause must be reversed in order for permitting talks to continue.
On Tuesday, Whitehouse called the pause a “gimmick” and “yet another direct money payoff to [President Donald] Trump’s fossil fuel donors.”
Lee’s ‘Nuclear Option’
Lee’s gambit is unlikely to gain much traction; scrapping the filibuster is largely unpopular among Republicans and Democrats, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has rejected the idea, even after Trump called for it.
The legislative filibuster, which Lee has dubbed the “zombie filibuster” in a series of social media posts over the past week, is the procedural tool in the Senate that effectively requires legislation to get at least 60 votes to advance. In practice, it means that major legislation has to be bipartisan in order to pass, giving significant power to the minority party. Both Democrats and Republicans have used it to block legislation they dislike.
Lee is arguing that the GOP majority can pass legislation such as permitting reform with a simple majority — and forego the need to get 60 votes to end debate required by the filibuster — by exhausting debate over the course of multiple days or weeks or by holding votes when Democrats “don’t show up for debate to oppose something.”
Some Senate Democrats advocated for ending the filibuster under certain circumstances when they were in the majority, but those calls have died down since they have been in the minority.
Trump and some conservative lawmakers this Congress have demanded that GOP leaders end the filibuster to be able to quickly pass Republican priorities. Trump last month posted on Truth Social that Republicans could lose their congressional majority next year “if we don’t do the Termination of the Filibuster (The Nuclear Option!).”
Thune has repeatedly indicated that he has no plans to try to scrap the procedure. When asked about that possibility last month, Thune told reporters that “the votes aren’t there.” Last week, he told radio host Hugh Hewitt that the filibuster “has protected Republicans way more often than any benefit we might get from getting rid of it.”
The American Clean Power Association indicated in a statement Monday that a bipartisan, congressionally approved permitting framework is all the more necessary in the wake of the administration’s unilateral project cancellations.
Interior’s pausing of the five offshore wind projects “demonstrates the urgency for federal legislation to prevent Administrations from picking winners and losers and placing political ideology above the Nation’s interest,” ACP said in its statement.
Spokespersons for Lee and House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va) declined to comment.
Reporter Kelsey Brugger contributed.
