The partisan politics behind federal energy and environment policy were put on full display Thursday night during a marathon session of amendment votes for Senate Republicans’ budget resolution.
Republicans defeated dozens of Democratic proposals intended to modify the reconciliation blueprint, including several seeking to mitigate potential damage from the Trump administration’s moves to fire federal workers and boost fossil fuel production on federal lands. The GOP also cleared an amendment targeting federal regulations.
While the amendments were nonbinding and largely symbolic, Democrats leveraged the overnight roll calls to force Republicans to take politically difficult votes. Democrats sought to put them on the record on the administration’s early actions, and Republicans crossed the aisle on various occasions.
Senators ultimately adopted their fiscal 2025 budget resolution early Friday morning on a 52-48 vote, giving committee leaders the green light to officially proceed with their portions of what will be a $342 billion reconciliation package focused on defense, border security and energy. Senate leaders are eyeing a second bill focused on tax policy later this year. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the budget measure’s only opponent from the GOP side.
Whether the resolution ultimately leads to the first of Senate leaders’ two planned reconciliation bills remains an open question. House leaders intend to put their own single-bill budget plan up for a vote as soon as next week, and President Donald Trump threw his support behind the House’s effort Wednesday.
Still, the president’s endorsement hasn’t stopped senators from plowing ahead with their reconciliation outline. They say their resolution is a necessary “Plan B” in case the House’s flops.
And Trump blessed that effort in a social media post as voting was getting started. “Thank you to Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda,” the president wrote.
In a floor speech, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) criticized Democrats’ actions on energy and the climate under former President Joe Biden.
“We’re here to correct that,” Barrasso said. “America is a superpower of energy, and we need to act like it.”
Reconciliation will allow Republicans to bypass the Senate filibuster to enact party-line priorities that have an impact on the budget.
Most of the specific policies that will end up in the bill have not been decided yet, but a summary of the Senate plan states that it would support “energy independence by unleashing American energy production through on and offshore lease sales, and stopping the Biden Administration’s natural gas tax, also known as the methane emissions fee.”
The resolution calls for $342 billion in spending over four years — namely for defense and border security — that would be fully offset with cuts across a number of committees.
While Senate Republicans are expected to target Inflation Reduction Act tax credits in their second bill, non-tax portions of the climate law will be targeted in the first bill.
Democrats frequently called out Trump adviser Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency for their unprecedented moves to fire thousands of civil servants, freeze appropriated funds and roll back regulations.
Republicans repeatedly shot down each of the Democratic amendments. In some cases, they said that while they agreed with the intention of the proposals, they would oppose them because adoption would undermine the budget resolution.
Amendment details
The first energy-focused amendment came relatively early in the night, when Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) dared Republicans to vote against a change that would prohibit the reconciliation bill from raising Americans’ energy bills.
“It’s a simple yes-or-no point of order that would ensure nothing in the budget would increase energy costs for working families,” he said. “How could you vote against that?”
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) countered that the amendment was not allowed under reconciliation rules that require provisions to have a budget nexus.
He said permitting reform and ending clean energy “mandates” would do more to lower energy prices, and the amendment failed along party lines, 47-53. It’s unclear how much on permitting Republicans will be able to accomplish through reconciliation.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican to support a Democratic amendment when she voted in favor of Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet’s proposal to reinstate federal employees whom the Trump administration recently fired from the National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, or Bureau of Land Management.
The amendment failed 48-52, but Murkowski’s support underscored the frustration that some Republicans are feeling as the administration’s actions threaten projects, programs and constituents in their home states. Murkowski has been particularly vocal about the impacts the administration’s civil service reductions could have on energy projects.
Fellow Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan joined forces with Democrats to back an amendment from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) that would have supported federal wildland firefighters by ensuring “fair wages” and adequate services for their health and well-being.
It was rejected 48-52, with Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) arguing that the amendment was nothing more than “political messaging.” He added that Republicans “are committed to protecting our environment and our public lands without suffocating the U.S. economy.”
‘REINS Act’
Paul proposed an amendment that would have altered the blueprint to mirror the House’s version, increasing the level of cuts from $342 billion to $1.5 trillion. It failed 24-76.
Lee pushed language that could lead to the inclusion of the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act,” which would require Congress to approve major rules. Similar language is part of the House budget reconciliation blueprint. Senators passed the amendment 53-47 along party lines.
“Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, should be making our laws,” Lee said.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) called the amendment “potentially unconstitutional and dangerous.”
Other defeated Democratic amendments include one from Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) to support the government’s response to the bird flu and another from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to ensure continued compensation for veterans made sick by toxic burn pits.
Only a fraction of introduced amendments came up. Among those left on the cutting-room floor included language to remove plans to undo the Inflation Reduction Act’s methane fee.
