Congress overturns Biden rule on offshore drilling

It’s the second Congressional Review Act resolution approved this year.

March 06, 2025

The House on Thursday voted to overturn another rule released during the tail end of the Biden administration, sending the resolution to President Donald Trump for a signature.

Congress utilized the Congressional Review Act to undo the regulation, which relates to offshore drilling. That law allows Congress to overturn newly issued rules by a simple majority.

The House passed S.J. Res. 11 by a vote of 221-202, with a number of Democrats joining Republicans. The measure, offered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), passed the Senate last week 54-44 with some Democratic votes.

The Biden-era rule requires oil companies to complete an archaeological assessment before drilling to protect historical resources like shipwrecks from damage. Republicans and some Democrats argued it was unnecessary.

"They’re already making these archaeological assessments under existing rules, this is redundant,” said House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.). “It’s punitive, it was a rule put in place to attack what our colleagues like to refer to as the Big Oil boogeyman.”

Democratic defenders of the rule say overturning it would result in an unnecessary carve-out for oil and gas companies. They want to make sure they look for sensitive historical resources and unexploded ordinances from World War II.

“It requires them to tweak surveys that oil and gas companies are already doing so that they can proactively look for marine archaeological resources or unexploded ordinances,” said Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.). “This is a commonsense, look-before-you-drill provision that benefits the American people and keeps offshore workers safe."

Huffman said, "The Republican agenda in the House today accomplishes one thing and one thing only, selling out the American people and our planet so they can continue to enrich the oil baron oligarchs and billionaire class."

But some Democrats have consistently broken with their leaders on regulations. Nine voted to undo the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rule Thursday, including Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas.

Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the only Republican to vote "no." He often crosses the aisle on energy- and climate-related issues.

The first CRA resolution to pass both chambers this year and go to the president targeted EPA's rule implementing a fee on methane leaks from oil and gas. Republicans are also looking to repeal the underlying mandate from the Inflation Reduction Act.


By:  Garrett Downs
Source: E&E NEWS by POLITICO