SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.
EJ TransitionWatch: ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Could Undo Biden’s Climate Progress
By Joseph A. Davis
Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans are betting the ranch on “one big bill” for many of their pet initiatives — and for loading up with repeals of outgoing President Joe Biden’s climate and energy initiatives.
That, and renewal of tax cuts for the rich, tougher border policies and raising the debt limit, not to mention huge spending cuts that would gore many an ox.
It’s a gamble. They would do it through a process called “reconciliation” — a last resort in a narrowly divided Congress.
The main thing about a reconciliation bill
is that it can be passed with a simple majority
in both chambers and is immune from a filibuster.
The main thing about a reconciliation bill in today’s context is that it can be passed with a simple majority in both chambers and is immune from a filibuster. That could be key in this year’s narrowly divided House and Senate, and why legislators turn to it in their hour of direst need.
But skeptical observers still ask whether Republicans can muster a majority on anything in either chamber. The bigger the bill gets, the harder it will be to pass. It ends up being an all-or-nothing gamble.
What is the Budget Act?
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (aka the Budget Act) is one of the several mechanisms for enabling and limiting federal spending. It was enacted largely because the others weren’t working.
Congress signs the final check when it passes (and when the president puts his signature to) an appropriation bill — except nowadays these are commonly lumped together as omnibus and stopgap bills.
Congressional dysfunction (under both parties) has prevented the orderly and on-time passage of appropriations bills. Each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees is supposed to pass a bill by the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. They don’t.
But money cannot otherwise be appropriated unless it is authorized by other legislation, involving a whole other set of committees in each chamber.
So, for instance, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee must authorize building a dam before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development can actually spend money on it.
Deficit spending and impoundment
Donald Trump and House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson, above, have high expectations about how fast Congress can act on a reconciliation measure. But negotiations to shape the bill are likely to be long and uncertain. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). |
None of this prevents deficit spending. That’s one reason Congress passed the Budget Act. It requires Congress to set numerical limits on each category of spending. Every year, Congress passes a budget resolution, and this may be implemented by a reconciliation bill.
Another reason Congress passed the Budget Act was to control impoundment. Congress believed President Richard Nixon was improperly refusing to spend, or impounding, money he disapproved of.
Congress thought this infringed on their prerogative to control spending, and the 1974 Budget Act effectively prohibited this, in most circumstances.
Since budget and reconciliation are supposed to be about money, the act made it out of order to include pure policy measures. This could be enforced by a point of order (which could be overridden by a majority vote).
These limits were codified by the “Byrd rule,” named after former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd. In effect, though, that proviso gave huge power to the Senate parliamentarian.
The many energy and climate issues
Debate on reconciliation may cover an epic sweep of issues. But energy, environment and climate issues will be prominent. It’s about “drill, baby, drill.” Trump has made clear that oil and gas production is among his very top priorities.
Here are some of the provisions that could be included in the reconciliation bill.
- Offshore leasing: Biden on Jan. 6 banned offshore oil and gas leasing off much of the U.S. coast. There is doubt about whether Trump can reverse this without an act of Congress.
- Alaska leasing: Decades of conflict over leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and other Alaskan lands remain unresolved. Trump wants to open them.
- Methane fee: Trump opposes a number of Biden efforts to limit emissions of methane, a major greenhouse gas. The methane fee annoys the oil industry and fits under reconciliation.
- EV incentives: Part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act authorized agencies to give tax credits to some electric vehicles (may require subscription). Now that the Biden administration has finally implemented them, Republicans are reaching for the ax.
- Permitting reform: Measures to speed approval of infrastructure projects, championed by former Sen. Joe Manchin, failed after negotiations in the last Congress.
- REINS Act: This legislation would expand Congress’ power to undo agency regulations that it does not like.
Going ‘all in’
Trump and the GOP have high expectations about how fast Congress can act on reconciliation.
Trump has said he wants to pass “one big, beautiful bill” as soon as possible. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he hopes to do it in the first 100 days.
But to get it through the House, Johnson cannot afford to lose more than a single vote. Negotiations on shaping the bill — which Trump hopes can include much of his agenda — are likely to be long, uncertain and out of the public eye.
[Editor’s Note: For more on the politics around environment and energy policy, also see our EJ TransitionWatch columns, “What Biden Rules Could Congress Unplug With Review Act?” and “Climate Action Looks First To Go Under New Administration.”]
Joseph A. Davis is a freelance writer/editor in Washington, D.C. who has been writing about the environment since 1976. He writes SEJournal Online's TipSheet, Reporter's Toolbox and Issue Backgrounder, and curates SEJ's weekday news headlines service EJToday and @EJTodayNews. Davis also directs SEJ's Freedom of Information Project and writes the WatchDog opinion column.
* From the weekly news magazine SEJournal Online, Vol. 10, No. 3. Content from each new issue of SEJournal Online is available to the public via the SEJournal Online main page. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here. And see past issues of the SEJournal archived here.