A House committee just advanced a permitting deal with a surprising twist—a new amendment that explicitly bans the President from revoking or “pausing” valid, already-issued energy permits. (Heatmap)
While Dems want this clause in the SPEED Act to protect offshore wind from the Trump administration, the oil and gas lobby is quietly backing it out of fears a future progressive President could weaponize the same permit-stripping tools against fossil fuel projects in 2029.
Still, most Dems voted “no.” Their grievance? The bill doesn't solve the current bottleneck: Interior Sec. Doug Burgum’s alleged tactic of requiring personal sign-off on minor bureaucratic steps, which can stall projects indefinitely without technically “revoking” anything.