Democrats are eager to accelerate clean energy infrastructure development and the jobs that come along with it — and a bipartisan deal on permitting reform is a big piece of that puzzle. But, they’re warning, if those talks fall apart, the blame is squarely on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
Democrats said Tuesday that communications with the White House have been “within the ordinary bounds” of legislative disagreement.
However, “flagrant illegal misbehavior” in federal agencies like the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency has created distrust that could sink a deal, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) said at a round table with labor leaders.
“If there is going to be a failure at permitting reform, the problem will be the behavior of the Trump Cabinet officials,” Whitehouse, who has led permitting reform negotiations for the Democrats with Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, said. “It would be on Hegseth, Burgum, Wright and Zeldin, because they are doing their level best to make sure that no Democrat has any faith in a fair implementation of a permitting reform bill.”
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Streamlining the permitting process is also a priority for Republicans, and reforms are key to advancing the capacity of the U.S. power grid to handle more artificial intelligence data centers — a focus for the Trump administration.
Negotiators are aiming to reach a bipartisan consensus by the August recess on an issue that has long been stuck in partisan gridlock.
“We’re actively working on it and trading paper,” Heinrich told reporters after the roundtable. “We’re not there yet, but I think things are constructive.”
Still, Democrats say, the administration’s policies toward many clean energy projects is casting uncertainty over the future of these talks.
A report out Tuesday from BlueGreen Alliance, an advocacy group focused on union jobs and clean energy, said the Trump administration has canceled or stalled 223 clean manufacturing, energy and industrial projects representing $82.8 billion in capital investment since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The alliance estimates those setbacks could cost more than 111,000 jobs, with over 1 million additional jobs at risk as other infrastructure developments face tax restrictions due to the OBBBA.
“These numbers are not just dots on a map,” Jason Walsh, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, told lawmakers. “They represent workers seeing a path to the middle class cap off.”
Federal funding rescissions have reached projects across the country, from sustainable concrete manufacturing in New York, to interregional transmission lines in Minnesota, to hydrogen hubs in California and the Pacific Northwest.
A federal judge ruled that those funding rescissions, which targeted blue states, were unlawful. The Trump administration’s efforts to halt offshore wind leasing and permitting were also struck down in court.
An EPA spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is “aligning itself to the letter of the law Congress wrote.”
“It’s telling that Senator Whitehouse is pre-writing the excuse for a permitting failure before a bill even reaches the finish line,” the spokesperson said. “The sabotage Whitehouse is warning about is coming from inside his own caucus.”
Permitting reforms could provide insulation for clean energy projects from Trump administration crackdowns. They could also help Democrats recover some of the momentum on job growth fueled by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, if more clean energy projects can break ground.
The Energy Department, Interior Department and Defense Department did not immediately respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
Brent Booker, the general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, which represents workers in construction and energy industries, told Democrats on Tuesday it was “finally time” to reform the country’s permitting process, after more than a decade of trying.
“Our members need predictability so they can get the training they need,” he said. “Let’s make sure our members have an opportunity to work. Let’s make sure developers and owners can go build things.”
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