GOP dials in major energy push

Presented by the Association of American Railroads: A play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news

Mar 27, 2023 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus Presented by With an assist from Daniella Diaz  House Republicans are sending their signature energy package to the floor this week. | Francis Chung/POLITICO POTENTIAL ENERGY — House Republicans' signature energy bill hits the floor this week. Leaders hope the major policy push will spark unity and that proposed changes don’t sway support. The House Rules Committee takes up the measure this afternoon and will decide which of the 153 amendments that House members have submitted will actually get consideration and votes on the floor. A "structured rule" is expected for the energy bill, where a curated roster of amendments are allowed for action, instead of a total free-for-all under an open rule. With the four-vote GOP majority, leadership has to sweat the small stuff. Last week, lawmakers involved in the bill were trying to iron out details and suss out what kind of amendments might be on deck to head off headaches that could impact support of the bill. But Republican leaders have promised their conference a hands-on legislating experience, so expect a hefty list of amendments (at least Republican ones) cleared for the floor. Some topics still percolating last week include offshore oil and wind projects in the Gulf of Mexico, the high-profile Mountain Valley pipeline and fracking in the Delaware River Basin. Fracking or packing? In Pennsylvania's Delaware River Basin, two GOP lawmakers are facing off with competing proposals: one from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) to put Congressional weight behind a fracking ban in the region and another from Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) that would bar local commissions from issuing local regulations relating to fracking. Sunshine State: Florida Republicans, including Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), have concerns about offshore projects, for both aesthetic and safety reasons, with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico still fresh on their minds more than a decade later. The Virginias: West Virginians and Virginians will be at odds over the proposed 300-mile Mountain Valley pipeline. Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are laser focused on getting the pipeline built, but Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) is trying to block the project, which would cross through Virginia and has sparked eminent domain issues. Permitting’s path forward: Plenty of Republicans are hoping to have energy permitting, one big focus of this bill, be part of negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, as Sarah and Jordain reported last week. Senate sneers: While energy permitting proposals have legs in both chambers, the House’s sweeping energy package won’t have momentum in the Senate. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) already called it a “nonstarter” and “a wish list for Big Oil, gutting important environmental safeguards.” Our friends at E&E News have a great rundown of potential friction: Amendments could scramble House GOP energy bill, from Kelsey Brugger, Jeremy Dillon, Emma Dumain A message from the Association of American Railroads: America’s freight railroads are driving toward a future with zero incidents and injuries. We’re working as hard as possible to prevent future derailments by instituting new comprehensive practices and technologies. Our safety standards have long exceeded what is federally required and now we’re taking that even further. Learn how we’re going to keep getting safer.   GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, March 27, where we hope the blossom pics were worth it. HUDDLE WEEKLY MOST CLICKED: Sinema Trashes Dems: ‘Old Dudes Eating Jell-O’, from Jonathan Martin came in a close second to… Sinema’s response to a Jello-O tweet from Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.). SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE — If you can't find a hearing this week, you're hard to please. There are more than 100 hearings and markups on the calendar for this week, including a parade of cabinet secretaries showing up to defend the president’s fiscal 2024 budget request. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will all be on the Hill in the next few days. WARREN WANTS MORE — Time in the Senate, that is. The Massachusetts Democrat launched her second reelection bid this morning. Our friend Lisa Kashinsky at Massachusetts Playbook has more. Spoiler alert: the video has both curse words and cameos. SHELDON SAYS — Whether Senate Democrats will deliver their own budget proposal or just fall back on President Joe Biden’s blueprint is “TBD,” according to Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse. Caitlin Emma profiles the new Budget chairman, with a look at how he’s bringing his big themes of climate change and corporate greed into the process (but differently than Bernie Sanders.)   JOIN POLITICO ON 4/5 FOR THE 2023 RECAST POWER LIST: America’s demographics and power dynamics are changing — and POLITICO is recasting how it covers the intersection of race, identity, politics and policy. Join us for a conversation on the themes of the 2023 Recast Power List that will examine America’s decision-making tables, who gets to sit at them, and the challenges that still need to be addressed. REGISTER HERE.     DON’T MISS IT — The National League of Cities conference continues today with remarks from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, First Lady Jill Biden and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). But the real highlight, in your Huddle host’s humble option, will be the panel discussion on appropriations and the debt ceiling featuring POLITICO’s own Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes. NO RO FOR SENATE — California Democrat Ro Khanna won’t be making a Senate bid for the seat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is vacating. On Sunday he backed fellow Rep. Barbara Lee and said he will co-chair her campaign for the hotly contested Senate seat. McCONNELL BACK HOME — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) won’t be back this week, but he was discharged from inpatient physical therapy on Saturday after his fall and concussion earlier this month. “I’m going to follow the advice of my physical therapists and spend the next few days working for Kentuckians and the Republican Conference from home,” McConnell said in a statement over the weekend. More from Burgess. FAA NOM DOESN’T LAND — President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, Phil Washington withdrew his nomination on Saturday evening, following nine months in limbo and amid concerns from senators in both parties over his background and relative lack of aviation experience. The FAA has been without a confirmed administrator for roughly a year, and Washington's exit will likely mean months longer while the White House selects another candidate who must go through the Senate vetting and voting process. More from Alex here.   A message from the Association of American Railroads:   HUDDLE HOTDISH Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) bracket is doing alright. But Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) gets to brag about Caitlin Clark. QUICK LINKS  The Dual Education of Hakeem Jeffries, from Nicholas Fandos at The New York Times Republican vs. DC battle set for Round 2, from Al Weaver at The Hill ‘It’s clear I haven’t gotten through.’ After Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, Elizabeth Warren takes her criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell to another level, from Jim Puzzanghera at The Boston Globe Top Progressives Stick With Biden Despite Rightward Moves on Crime, Immigration, Climate from Catherine Lucey at the Wall Street Journal Senate Banking Committee faces intense 2024 politics in bank collapse hearings from Sahil Kapur at NBC News ICYMI: Manhattan DA, House GOP chairs ramp up battle over Trump investigation, from Jordain TRANSITIONS  Sid Ravishankar is now deputy chief of staff for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). He was most recently the staff director for the Subcommittee for International Development and International Organizations at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Harleen Gambhiris now counsel to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). She most recently was in the litigation group at Elias Law Group. Matthew Bishop is heading to Rep. Jerry Carl’s (R-Ala.) office as legislative director. He most recently was a senior consultant at Booz Allen, and is a Bradley Byrne alum.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     TODAY IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. It will consider four bills under suspension of the rules. The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. to resume consideration of the repeal of the authorizations for use of military force against Iraq. At 5:30 the Senate will vote on cloture to the AUMF resolution. AROUND THE HILL 3 p.m. The House Rules Committee meets to consider “The Lower Energy Costs Act.” (H-313) TRIVIA FRIDAY’S WINNER: Zachary Pennington correctly answered that the first time the State of the Union was streamed over the Internet was George W. Bush’s 2002 address. TODAY’S QUESTION from Zachary: The White House Chief Usher, traditionally an apolitical post, is charged with managing the residential staff and operations of the White House. Who was the first woman to hold the position, and who was the president that appointed her? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE     emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus A message from the Association of American Railroads: America’s freight railroads have a history of being safe—mainline accidents reached an all-time low in 2022. But we know there is still work to be done to reach a future with zero incidents. Immediate steps we are taking toward that goal include: 1. Installing thousands of additional accident-preventing detectors, 2. Establishing safety-first standards for stopping trains and inspecting bearings, 3. Training 20,000 first responders nationwide on accident mitigation, 4. Leading an industry-wide re-evaluation to improve tank car fire protection, 5. Proactively removing wheel sets that posed an increased risk of derailment from service,  And more. Rail is essential to keeping the U.S. economy strong, but we also recognize we must regain the trust of the communities we serve. That’s why we’re never going to stop improving, so that every part of America can continue to rely on rail to safely and efficiently deliver. Learn more.     Follow us

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