Bipartisan energy talks collapse, say Manchin, Carper, blaming House GOP

A bipartisan effort to speed up the buildout of the nation’s energy projects has failed — or at least will not be attached to a stopgap funding bill — say two key lawmakers who were involved with the effort.

Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) both said in separate statements Monday that bipartisan and bicameral talks were unsuccessful.

“It’s a shame that our country is losing this monumental opportunity to advance the commonsense, bipartisan permitting reform bill that has strong support in the United States Senate,” Manchin said in a written statement Monday.

He blamed House Republican leaders, adding, “By taking permitting off the table for this Congress, Speaker Johnson and House Republican Leadership have done a disservice to the incoming Trump Administration, which … will now be forced to operate with their hands tied behind their backs when trying to issue permits for all of the types of energy and infrastructure projects our country needs.”

Carper similarly blamed the House GOP.

“Unfortunately, instead of taking real policy wins, House Republicans let their perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said in a Monday afternoon statement.

“I’m extremely disappointed that House Republicans walked away from this opportunity,” he added.

For years, Republicans and Democrats have been working to find compromise legislation that they say will enable the nation to build out energy projects more quickly.

Republicans have said they want to find a deal in order to build out fossil fuel infrastructure more quickly and shield corporations from having their projects derailed by lawsuits.

Democrats who supported an agreement have said they hope to spur a faster buildout of renewable energy and electric power, which they say is key for getting low-carbon energy online.

Other Democrats have opposed these policies, saying they will undercut environmental standards and community input — and that they generally oppose a buildout of more fossil fuel infrastructure.

Republicans did secure some of the policies they had been hoping for — particularly page and time limits on environmental analyses — as part of a deal last year to lift the debt limit. But members of both parties wanted to go further — as did leaders in the energy industry.

Manchin and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced a bill over the summer that garnered significant bipartisan buy-in in the upper chamber.

They had been discussing the bill for months with House leadership.

Barrasso, in a written statement, vowed to keep up the effort despite the current setback.

"I want to thank Chairman Manchin for his partnership on our near 18-month effort," he said. "The world needs more affordable, reliable, American energy. We will keep working to knock down barriers to producing and delivering that energy. Our work on permitting reform is not done," said the senator, who will become the party's No. 2 in the chamber next year.

The comments come just days after key Republican negotiator Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said Friday that discussions were chugging along.

“We made progress and are still at the table working in good faith,” Westerman told The Hill in a statement at the time. “We must get this right and are still working on a handful of issues that could unlock a deal.”

An Environment and Public Works Committee aide said that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) killed the permitting talks, however.

Johnson’s office over the weekend declined to comment. It, along with other Republican offices, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Carper’s Monday statement.

Reaching a deal would have been a key legacy item for both Carper and Manchin, who are retiring. Manchin has been a particular driving force for permitting reform efforts — making a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the issue in 2022 as part of his agreement to pass the Democrats’ signature climate, healthcare and tax bill.

With its governing trifecta next year, the GOP is eyeing the possibility of passing its own energy bill through a process called reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority to pass the Senate, evading the filibuster.

However, it’s not clear whether Republicans would be able to pass any reforms to speed up energy buildout, as these “reconciliation” bills are required to be budgetary in nature.

"Meaningful permitting reform will continue to be subject to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold next year and cannot be done by executive action alone," Manchin said in his statement.

— Updated at 5:29 p.m.

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