House Republicans Pass Bills to Push North Atlantic Right Whales Toward Extinction, Let Trump Fast-Track Permits for Any Mine He Likes
Washington, D.C. — House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) took to the House Floor this week to oppose H.R. 9436, which extends a special industry waiver that will lead to more critically endangered North Atlantic right whales dying in fishing rope, and H.R. 1501, which lets the Trump administration fast-track any mining project, including those the Trump family has invested in.
“This bill sells our fishing communities a false promise. We may hear that kicking the can down the road saves the Maine lobster fleet. In reality, this bill would lock in a broken status quo that guarantees disaster for both our historic coastal industry and the critically endangered right whale,” said Ranking Member Huffman on H.R. 9436.
“NOAA is lying down on the job, dragging its feet, firing staff, axing science and deprioritizing ropeless gear, perhaps because they think Congress will bail them out and kick the can a little further down the road. All of this is illegal, and all of it is causing massive uncertainty for the lobster fishery. Now, two years ahead of the deadline, this bill would add another seven-year delay instead of holding NOAA accountable. The solution already exists. Ropeless gear reduces deadly entanglements of whales without sacrificing catch. Fishermen are actively testing and using ropeless gear right now. They’ve landed over one million pounds of seafood using these methods. Let’s stop pretending that House Republicans and this administration care about fishermen, coastal communities, or these iconic whales. If Congress can arbitrarily grant a decade-plus statutory exemption to bypass protections for a critically endangered species, the Endangered Species Act is reduced to a hollow suggestion.”
On H.R. 1501, Ranking Member Huffman said, “It is our third day back from a five-week recess. We have 15 days left here in Washington before the election. It should be a time that we're trying to get some real work done. But instead of doing that, instead of doing a single thing to help our constituents who are struggling under skyrocketing costs of groceries, gas and electricity bills, Republicans are scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with any bill that their chaotic conference can find a way to pass. And one of the surest ways, it seems, is to find a way to do another favor for the president's friends and for foreign owned mining conglomerates. But here's the thing, Mr. Speaker. We've just heard the main rationale for this bill that we've got to make sure critical minerals mining projects and the processing projects for those critical minerals are eligible for FAST-41. They've made it sound as if today's bill would finally make that possible.”
“Well, I have a news flash for everyone. Mining is already a covered sector. Under a regulation adopted during the first Trump administration. Mineral processing projects are also allowed on FAST-41 as manufacturing. So we have an advertised solution here to a problem that does not exist. So what is this bill all about? Well, that's the other half of the bill. The part that would potentially tie the hands of this and future administrations from using FAST-41 in a smart and targeted way that would focus on actual critical minerals projects that were in our national interest, that were all about our national competitiveness. How does that make America more secure? The answer is it doesn't.”
Background
H.R. 9436, sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), extends a six-year Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act waiver for the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island from 2028 to 2035. Kicking the can down the road another seven years disincentivizes progress on gear that supports a robust fishery and keeps whales safe. Congress has already appropriated approximately $280 million for right whale recovery, including $20 million for innovative fishing technologies, and there are two more years to assess the latest data before setting new policy.
Only about 380 North Atlantic right whales remain, including 70 females of reproductive age, and the species can sustain less than one human-caused death per year. More than 85 percent have become entangled in fishing gear at least once, and so far in 2026 two right whales have died due to a gear entanglement and a vessel strike.
H.R. 1501, sponsored by Rep. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), codifies mining and mineral processing as covered sectors under FAST-41, a permitting pathway with restrictions on public input and judicial review. Mining and mineral processing are already eligible for FAST-41 under current regulations, so the bill changes nothing for the mining sector but leaves the door open for political favoritism in permitting. Committee Republicans voted down a Democratic amendment to focus on critical minerals, allowing the Trump administration to give special treatment to any mine they like, including projects the Trump family has invested in.
FAST-41 judicial review provisions can make it harder to stop mining projects that threaten wildlife and nearby populations, and its timelines can undermine Tribal consultation and Tribal sovereignty, compounding problems created by the antiquated Mining Law of 1872.
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