A group of Senate Democrats are looking for a major change to the bipartisan permitting reform bill in order to address concerns from tribal leaders. Their amendment, however, could kill the legislation’s prospects with President Donald Trump.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) introduced an amendment Tuesday afternoon that would strike the bill’s proposed changes to the National Historic Preservation Act, which tribal leaders said would undermine tribal sovereignty, weaken federal protections and threaten sacred sites. Twenty-two Democrats, including some who voted in favor of advancing the bill Monday, have signed on to the amendment.
But the bill’s key negotiators have said striking whole sections from the carefully negotiated package would be unlikely or impossible. The White House has said Trump wouldn’t support the bill with the amendment, Punchbowl reported.
While Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), a co-sponsor of the package, said lawmakers should try to “perfect the bill and see where votes land on it,” it’s not clear that the Democrats behind the amendment have the leverage to see the change through.
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The permitting bill received a strong show of bipartisan support Monday night, with 73 senators voting to advance the legislation on the Senate floor. Some of those who voted in favor of moving forward on the package signed on to Schiff’s amendment.
Among them is Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who said he expected the White House to “clear that up” after the president said Monday that the permitting package was not fully negotiated and that he would not approve wind turbines, which he called “a major loser.”
Senators told The Washington Sun that the president’s comments didn’t help the bipartisan push for permitting reform, after Democrats negotiated for permits to move forward as part of the deal. But they didn’t seem to be taking Trump’s threat seriously.
“I don’t really react to the crazy things that the president says,” Heinrich said.
Many others who supported Schiff’s amendment didn’t vote in favor of proceeding on the package.
Schiff’s amendment, which doesn’t address any provisions besides the changes to the National Historic Preservation Act, could bring more of those Democrats on board, despite lingering concerns about Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act changes.
“That’s the biggest issue I had with it,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) told The Sun on Tuesday morning.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) had the same concern. She voted in favor of taking up the bill in Monday’s procedural vote but said she would not support the legislation without changes.
“They’ve got to remove the tribal piece,” she said. “We’re going to work on it, make sure it happens.”
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland) said Tuesday morning that her concerns centered on the Clean Water Act provisions and how they could affect Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, among other things.
An amendment, she said, could “make it possible for us to support” the bill.
It remains an open question, however, whether the Senate will need their support to pass the bill overall.
Meanwhile, some Republicans are looking for changes of their own. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) said he’d like to see amendments that address eminent domain.
“Right now, the federal eminent domain power is really, really expansive,” he said. “I think there’s room to work on that.”
Hawley added that Monday’s vote was “pretty big” and suggested the bill has promise.
On Tuesday, the bill’s sponsors also briefed the House’s bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus on the legislation. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), another of the bill’s lead negotiators, said Tuesday’s meeting with House members was “very positive.”
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, has expressed his support for the permitting bill. House moderates also put their weight behind the package, pushing for Congress to pass it before Democratic majorities take over in January, potentially disrupting the bipartisan deal.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus came out against the deal, saying it would remove key levers for environmental protection and executive branch accountability.
The bill, however, received support from leaders of the New Democrat Coalition, who said the bill would address affordability concerns and that changes in a weekend amendment reflected “good-faith, bipartisan negotiation.”
But, the group said, “Tribal concerns remain to be addressed.”
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