House Republicans passed legislation Friday to limit President Joe Biden from selling oil from the emergency stockpile and tying sales to increased domestic fuel development, a rebuke of the administration’s energy policies.
The bill, which passed 221-205, would prohibit Biden from selling off more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) except in the case of a severe supply disruption. The sales would also be contingent upon the president opening up more federal lands to oil and gas drilling.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is unlikely to pass.
Senate Republicans have introduced their own companion legislation this week, which would bar the administration from depleting the reserve without first outlining a plan to refill it.
House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who introduced the legislation, described it Thursday as an “urgent” policy that would help rebuild the stockpile while also preserving it for other emergency disruptions, such as hurricanes or other natural disasters.
“At present, the SPR’s ability to protect Americans has been put at risk by this administration,” she said in remarks on the House floor Thursday.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warned earlier this week that Biden would veto the bill, saying it would undermine national security, cause crude oil shortages, and raise fuel prices nationwide.
The GOP-led bill “needlessly aims to weaken the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s usefulness as a tool to ensure energy security in America,” Granholm said.
She also sought to dismiss fears about refilling the reserve, which has been reduced by 40% in the last two years, telling reporters, “I have no concerns that we will be able to refill and replenish the SPR, [the Strategic Petroleum Reserve], and do it at a savings to taxpayers.”
SENATE GOP INTRODUCES BILL ENDING SPR SALES TO CHINA AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY VIOLATORS
Since November 2021, President Joe Biden has ordered the sale of more than 250 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, sending levels to their lowest point in more than 40 years and prompting concerns about energy security.
Republicans have criticized Biden’s decision to sell 180 barrels of oil last March as a politically motivated decision designed to drive down gas prices ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, rather than an effort to respond to real supply shortages caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Others have raised concerns about the physical integrity of the underground caverns, which can be damaged by frequent and repeated drawdowns.
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The bill is the second of two GOP messaging bills passed by House Republicans in recent weeks, as they seek to curtail the president’s authority to sell off the nation’s emergency oil and limit the countries that it can sell it to.
Earlier this month, the House voted 331-97 to pass the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, which seeks to limit all direct or indirect sales of SPR oil to China.
