Republicans on Capitol Hill are expecting President Donald Trump to emphasize his administration’s bold approach to energy policy during his State of the Union address this week.
GOP lawmakers said they hope the president talks about American energy dominance, gasoline prices and permitting — all issues Democrats are hammering the administration on.
“I’d love to see him tout U.S. production,” said Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee. “We think there’s a big story to be told there.”
Pfluger, whose district sits atop the Permian Basin, added “we have a lot more to do” to increase domestic energy production. “The shale revolution tells us … that these wells decline pretty quickly, so they have to continue to drill.”
But amid increasing electricity demand and prices, Democrats say Trump and Congress should focus less on simply more drilling and mining and more on renewable energy production. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the official Democratic response.
During Trump’s remarks before a join session of Congress last year, Republicans were overjoyed when he emphasized deregulation and natural gas production while slamming the “Green New Scam,” his shorthand for all Democratic energy priorities.
Democrats, afterward, blasted his speech as “constant lies.” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) pointed out that the United States was “producing more oil than we ever have at any point in our history.”
This year, Ansari will be among the Democrats opting to skip the speech altogether and participating in a “People’s State of the Union.” Others lawmakers skipping include Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Still, Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said she hoped the president would nod to major pieces of bipartisan legislation under her committee’s jurisdiction.
“I hope he talks about permitting. I hope he talks about the highway bill,” she said. “I hope he talks about the importance of the capital that’s sitting on the sidelines waiting for this development because of those things. …Those are the kinds of things that are gonna have great meaning for me as we move through the next several months.”
The president’s efforts to block renewable energy project promoted Democrats to halt talks on permitting reform. Some say it could also undercut negotiations on infrastructure.
Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), whose big permitting bill passed the House late last year, agreed that he “would be very pleased to see him talk about permitting reform and all of that.”
Republicans under Trump have already left a sizable imprint on federal energy policy. For one, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act dramatically scaled back renewable energy tax credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act..
“Clearly, he will talk about energy policy,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), expecting Trump to highlight “opportunities to really produce a lot more energy, which means lower costs, helps with affordability, but makes us more competitive in the global markets, creates jobs and is really important geopolitically.”
But to highlight the Democrats’ point, Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has invited a union electrician affected by the administration’s effort to stop work on the Revolution Wind project.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), in a nod to bipartisan concerns about energy production, said, “I’m sure there’ll be something that addresses abundance. We need more abundance.”
