Ongoing Trump administration actions against renewable energy projects and other administration initiatives are making it unlikely that Democrats will sign off on a permitting deal with Republicans any time soon.
Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) acknowledged that reality Thursday as the Senate ended another workweek without an agreement. August recess — coming in two weeks — has been a deadline for negotiators to strike an accord.
“What’s interesting is that the Trump administration regulatory side has been seemingly going out of its way to make success on permitting reform unlikely,” Whitehouse told POLITICO. “And at the same time, the White House negotiators have been operating within what I would consider fairly normal bounds of legislative disagreement.”
Whitehouse was responding to a question about the impact of the latest flashpoint from the administration — a proposal to ease requirements under a historical site protection law important to tribes.
