House Republicans on Wednesday passed what is expected to be the final government funding bill before August recess, proposing steep cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal year 2025.
The annual Department of Interior and EPA funding bill passed 210-205 late Wednesday. Democrats have come out in staunch opposition to the measure over proposed cuts to the EPA and other areas like the National Park Service, the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art.
The bill’s narrow passage comes as House Republicans’ ambitious hopes of passing all 12 annual government funding bills by the August recess have crumbled. House leadership canceled votes on three other funding bills this week, including yanking one off the floor at the last minute Tuesday night, and announced Wednesday they would begin their annual summer recess a week early.
GOP leadership on Wednesday night could be seen talking with members during the vote as the tally appeared touch and go at certain points.
“Well they had whipped it pretty much. They called and just wanted to talk it through, which was good. It ended up swaying a lot of people,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a hardline conservative that had previously been undecided on the bill before backing it on Wednesday night, told The Hill.
However, he also voiced frustration with some proposed amendments offered by conservatives that went down during the vote.
Five Republicans voted against the legislation, while one Democrat was in favor.
The bill faces tough odds in the Democratic-led Senate in its current form. But it helps provide a starting place for Republicans ahead of eventual funding negotiations with the upper chamber.
In remarks from the House floor this week, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), head of the subcommittee that crafted the bill, acknowledged that “cutting funding is never easy, but with the national debt totaling nearly $35 trillion and inflation at an unacceptable level, we had to make tough choices in this bill to rein in unnecessary discretionary spending.”
“This legislation prioritizes critical needs and addresses specific interests and concerns brought to our attention through more than 8,800 Member requests,” he said, while also noting that the bill “takes critical steps to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by the EPA and promote domestic energy production.”
He also defended the bill as a measure that “permanently fixes wildland firefighter pay, helps manage our public lands wisely, upholds our commitments to Indian country, and restores the fiscal responsibility necessary to get our economy back on track.”
The bill’s funding levels called for an overall decrease compared to current spending levels, with a GOP summary outlining a 20 percent cut to EPA funding, cuts upwards of 8 percent for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while also eliminating funding for the Presidio Trust and slashing dollars for the Council on Environmental Quality.
At the same time, Republicans have pointed to funding boosts for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Wildland Fire Management and the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.
Democrats sharply criticized the proposed cuts and argued the bill inadequately addresses climate change.
“Climate change is a clear and present danger, and experts agree that we must take bold action to avoid major, irreversible catastrophe,” Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), top Democrat on Simpson’s subcommittee, said on the floor this week. “So, I am greatly disappointed and frustrated by the bill before us that completely disregards the reality of a warming planet and ignores the need for us to do more, not less.”
“This bill abandons our most vulnerable groups that currently bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental impacts, which includes large swaths of rural communities that I, and many of my colleagues across the aisle, represent,” she added.
She also pointed to what she and Democrats have described as “poison pill” riders in the bill, as Republicans have pursued a list of partisan provisions to lock down support in the conference across their 12 funding bills – but at the expense of backing from the other side of the aisle.