Speaker Mike Johnson is facing another intraparty revolt — one that has nothing to do with health care, defense policy or pay for college athletes.
Johnson wants the House to vote on a bill next week from Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) that would accelerate the production and delivery of domestic energy. For Republicans, it would fulfill a yearslong legislative priority — and for President Donald Trump, his dreams of achieving U.S. energy dominance.
But some conservatives want to speed up the federal permitting process only for fossil fuels. And they’re furious that Westerman’s measure, which advanced out of committee with bipartisan support last month, would ease the path for green energy projects, too.
The GOP will likely need to supply all the votes on a procedural rule — as per usual in the majoritarian House — to tee up the measure for floor debate. Right now, the votes may not be there.
“We’re taking in … whether [the legislation] goes far enough to free up all the constraints put on oil, gas and nuclear and whether it’s still promoting too much wind and solar,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sits on House Rules.
The meltdown prompted Johnson to delay consideration of the bill from this week to next. But hard-liners have yet to budge, and Westerman told POLITICO Thursday there are no plans to remove some of the most controversial language to appease them.
Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.) escalated their campaign against the measure this week in a new letter to Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
“Your administration would have fewer tools to rightfully halt offshore wind development, and projects currently being blocked by successful court actions brought by your administration would see a second life,” they warned of the consequences of Westerman’s bill becoming law.
Van Drew told POLITICO he plans to share his concerns directly with the White House in the coming days.
For now, Johnson plans to plow ahead as GOP leadership aides work to resolve outstanding issues, three people close to negotiations told POLITICO.
“We are working through it,” Westerman said in an interview. “We’re just taking everybody’s input under consideration right now and focusing on the big picture of getting permitting reform done.”
What else we’re watching:
— House moves on health care: Moderate House Republicans are talking with leadership about possibly setting up an amendment vote that could add an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies to a health care package expected on the floor next week, according to four people granted anonymity to describe internal conversations.
GOP leaders will likely meet with a few more Republican groups Friday morning before finalizing the package. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Thursday he is hoping to file the bills Friday.
— Speaking of health care: The Republican Study Committee is hosting a briefing Friday morning on health care polling with the Foundation for Government Accountability, according to a copy of the event invitation obtained by POLITICO. The invite says the briefing will feature “critical polling showing what the American people really care about when it comes to health care.”
Kelsey Brugger, Josh Siegel, Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Benjamin Guggenheim contributed to this report.
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