Senators Advance Bipartisan Permitting Reform. Democrats Were Divided.

The Senate will move forward with its bipartisan permitting reform package, with the legislation overcoming a key procedural vote Monday. The vote to proceed on the bill passed 73 to 25.

Fifty-one Republicans, 21 Democrats and one Independent voted to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which would make changes to long-standing environmental laws that proponents say could speed up energy and infrastructure development.

That’s a selling point for President Donald Trump, who urged senators to vote in favor of the legislation, plugging it on TruthSocial as a “BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE” that could ensure new pipelines, mines and power plants get built.

But the bill has also attracted support from climate solutions advocates, who say the reforms are key to unlocking a transition to clean energy and reducing climate-warming emissions.

The package also includes provisions that would force data center developers to pay more for connecting to the power grid, and includes a community assistance program that would offer analysis and help for local governments where data centers are proposed.

The deal was negotiated between Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia). Monday’s vote was a major test of how willing Democrats, fresh off a midterms sweep, are to work with Republicans — especially on a bill Trump supports.

The bill will need to pass a final vote in the Senate and be taken up by the House. Trump’s support may buoy the deal’s chances in the House, where Republicans hold a narrow majority, though it remains to be seen where House Democrats will fall. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated opposition to the bill before the amendment was released and said Monday he was still reviewing the package.

After a weekend amendment that responded to critiques from environmental groups, tribal leaders and the utility industry, the bill received fresh support from outside groups. As the procedural vote neared, though, it became clear that fewer Democratic senators were interested in tying themselves to the bill.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) voted against taking up the bill, saying he’d rather punt the issue to the next Congress with a Democratic majority. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) voted no, saying she was concerned the package could hand Trump more power. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) also voted against the bill, citing concerns from tribal leaders.

Over the weekend, Evergreen Action, a climate advocacy group, put its weight behind the package. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utility companies that historically have not backed permitting reform attempts, said it would “help put more steel in the ground, cut unnecessary government red tape, and deliver more affordable, reliable energy.”

The Heritage Foundation was impressed that the amendment strengthened reliability requirements and tied transmission costs to demonstrable economic benefits.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune also called for Republicans to support the bill in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, framing it as a “bipartisan win” that Congress could notch before both chambers turn blue.

But opposition, particularly from the left, has also grown. A group of tribal leaders and other advocates dedicated to protecting the National Historic Preservation Act rallied in front of the Capitol on Monday afternoon, calling for legislators to kill the bill.

Several House Democrats spoke in opposition to the bill, including Reps. Jared Huffman of California, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Adelita Grijalva of Arizona.

Leonard Forsman, the chairman of the Suquamish Tribe who has worked in cultural resources management as an archaeologist, called on the Senate to reject the bill.

“Efficiency must never come at the expense of tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, or the destruction of sacred places,” he said. “We should not have to choose between responsible development and protecting our ancestors. We can do both.”

Concerns from tribal leaders prompted Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), who has called for permitting reform legislation in the past, to say she would not support the bill unless provisions that affect tribal rights are removed, Punchbowl News reported. Cortez Matso voted in favor of the Senate considering the bill.

“I cannot ignore the concerns that Tribes in Nevada have with this bill text,” Cortez Masto said.

The bill split some of the Senate’s most climate-focused Democrats.

Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawai’i), an outspoken climate advocate, voted yes, saying the bill presents a “rare opportunity” to pass bipartisan legislation that could lower costs and build clean energy. Schatz said he would introduce amendments and continue working to “ensure Native Hawaiian organizations and Tribes have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their communities.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California), also a climate advocate, voted against it.

Green groups are also divided on the bill. The Environmental Defense Fund said it supported allowing the process to move forward and for improvements to be made.

The League of Conservation Voters, which also said it still had concerns about the legislation after the amendment, said it would not “score” lawmakers on Monday’s vote, allowing Democrats to support the bill in moving forward without being docked on their climate record. But a spokesperson said the organization reserves the right to score future votes, depending on further changes.

Jenn Tyler, head of government affairs for Citizens Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan group advocating for federal climate solutions, told The Sun the bill could be a key to tackling carbon emissions.

“It’s pretty clear to us that the only real ways to address climate change are either to have an economic collapse, or to build stuff faster — to build clean energy faster,” she said. “We’d rather not have an economic collapse, so we are fully behind, how do we build clean energy faster?”

After weekend amendments, new modeling from Greenline Insights and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions said that by 2035, the bill’s provisions could reduce climate-warming emissions from the power sector by about 10% and lower residential electric bills by $1.8 billion.

Delaying reform would forego roughly $50 billion in electricity system savings and 600 million metric tons of emissions reductions through 2040, according to the modeling.

Whitehouse called the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act an “affordability bill,” a “data center bill” and a “climate and clean energy bill” that would have more of an impact on clean energy than former President Joe Biden’s legacy climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act.

“This becomes our biggest implemented climate bill,” he said.

If the package doesn’t make it to Trump’s desk before the end of this Congress, the outlook for passing a new permitting reform bill could be “bleak,” Tyler, of Citizens Climate Lobby, said.

“The opportunity is now,” she said.