House Republicans eye reconciliation bill for oil and gas leasing mandates, approving mining projects

House Republicans are eying a process called reconciliation to boost oil and gas drilling, and approve specific mining projects, which would only require a simple majority for passage.

House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) told reporters on Wednesday “there are a lot of very specific things we could look at possibly for reconciliation.”

He particularly listed the Twin Metals mine in Minnesota, the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona and the Ambler Road project in Alaska, and he said the language could be similar to the way a 2023 bill to raise the debt limit legislated the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

“We have a list," he said of the projects.

In addition, Westerman said that Republicans could try to require more auctions for the rights to drill oil and gas, saying they could “mandate more sales in the Gulf of Mexico” as well as in Alaska’s North Slope and Bering Sea.

Many of his suggestions would be explicit reversals of Biden policies. The Biden administration put forward a five-year offshore drilling plan, which has the smallest-ever number of oil and gas leases sales offshore. Westerman on Wednesday called the plan a “joke.”

Biden also barred drilling in part of the Bering Sea last week. His administration canceled leases for the Twin Metals mine and also rejected the Ambler Road project, which would have built a road that enabled mining in an area with significant copper and cobalt deposits.

The Resolution Copper project would mine copper in part of Arizona but faces opposition from the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

With control of both chambers of commerce and the presidency, Republicans have indicated that they hope to pass a broad range of their priorities through reconciliation, which evades the Senate filibuster and the need for any Democrat approval.

Only certain budget-related items are eligible to move forward using this process.

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