Natural Resources clears energy portion of reconciliation bill

Clearing the bill out of committee marks a step toward enacting President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.

May 07, 2025

The House Natural Resources Committee approved its portion of Republicans’ reconciliation package early Wednesday after a marathon markup for the bill aimed at driving up energy and minerals output from federal land. 

Clearing the bill out of committee marks a win for GOP leadership, who were forced to punt three more contentious markups to next week, and a step toward enacting President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. 

Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said the bill will raise more than $18 billion by mandating a sharp increase in oil, gas, coal and mineral leases on public lands and waters while reducing royalty rates for producers, as well as selling off small tracts of public lands. That number would well exceed the committee’s $1 billion target, but still makes up just a small portion of the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts Republicans are aiming to offset in the tax, border and energy package. 

“We’re generating more than $18.5 billion in new revenue and savings for the American people by unleashing the United States’ abundant natural resources,” Westerman said in a statement. “These budgetary measures will deliver on President Trump’s agenda to make our nation energy dominant today and into the future.” 

But Democrats contended the bill amounts to a giveaway of America’s public lands to big corporations and disputed anywhere close to $18 billion would be raised. They questioned whether producers would take advantage of new development opportunities given currently low oil prices, and complained the bill would hike fees on solar and wind, the fastest growing energy sources. 

Specifically, they called out Republicans for relying on projections from the Congressional Budget Office that holding four auctions for leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would generate up to $950 million in new revenue. Republicans’ last reconciliation package, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, ordered two lease sales in the region, both of which attracted little interest. 

“The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this ‘Environmental Liquidation for Billionaires Act’ will produce something around $15 or $17 billion, if you believe that — I don’t,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member. 

In a late-night twist, Republicans pushed through an amendment from GOP Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah that would sell small tracts of public land for development in their states, a proposal that had been rumored but was not included in the base text after it drew bipartisan opposition. 

A committee spokesperson said in a statement that “sales from these small parcels of land will generate significant federal revenue, and have broad local support. It’s a tailored, parochial budgetary measure.” Maloy said the sales total around 10,000 acres across the two states. 

Democrats were furious about the 33-page amendment, which they said they had not seen before it was proposed at 11 p.m. and would sell off land in districts represented by Democrats. “This is not a good-faith introduction,” said Rep. Dave Min (D-Calif.). 

But the measure could create issues for Republicans when the full reconciliation bill heads to the floor as at least one GOP lawmaker, Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, has declared public land sales a red line for him. 

Democrats filed dozens of amendments to strip the leasing provisions from the bill, limit mining expansion and call attention to Elon Musk’s government-dismantling efforts. All of them were defeated by the committee’s GOP majority, which refused to engage in debate on the amendments despite hours of attacks from Democrats. 

Democrats also questioned whether several major provisions of the GOP bill would comply with rules that require reconciliation bills to directly address federal revenue and spending. 

Republicans stayed silent on several amendments Democrats had proposed to remove provisions they predicted would run into trouble in the Senate, where the bill will face a so-called “Byrd bath.” 

Those include measures restricting court challenges against some energy projects going through an expedited permitting process if developers pay a fee, along with provisions intended to advance the contentious Twin Metals mine near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

“None of this is budgetary and this is why they aren’t opening their mouths today,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) of Republicans. 

Republicans’ silence made for strange scenes during the markup. Democrats at times sought to engage specific Republicans with questions on their pet issues, but Republicans sat silently on their phones or paged through documents. 

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) even offered at one point to withdraw the bulk of his amendments if Republicans would engage in a policy debate on the bill, but he was met with silence. 

Westerman denied he had instructed his members not to engage in the debate, saying they had decided individually to do so after seeing the Democratic amendments would derail the reconciliation process by adding non-budgetary measures. 

Westerman also came under fire from Democrats for his recent disclosure that he had purchased stock in a number of energy-producing and mining companies. He told POLITICO an investment adviser had bought the stocks without his knowledge and he was in the process of divesting them.


By:  James Bikales, Josh Siegel
Source: E&E Daily