One of the top Democratic negotiators on a permitting overhaul in the Senate said Thursday that formal talks would “likely” be back on, though he did not say when that might be.
The comments from Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are one of the first clear signs that negotiations on how to streamline the country’s infrastructure permitting laws talks could resume this Congress.
Negotiations have been stalled in the upper chamber since the Trump administration issued stop-work orders for five offshore wind projects in December 2025.
“On the [Senate Environment and Public Works] side, we are talking with Chair [Shelley Moore] Capito and her team about getting restarted in formal negotiations and communicating some warnings about further Trump mischief, Trump administration mischief,” Whitehouse told reporters Thursday. “That would be seen as fatal bad faith and would send us back into pause. I’m hoping that won’t happen.”
