Energy fight could entangle continuing resolution

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Wednesday it is possible that Congress’s efforts to keep the government running past Sept. 30 could get caught up in the intense partisan fight over drilling for oil.

Since Democratic leaders this year are not planning to pass most of the individual spending bills, Congress will have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep government functioning past Sept. 30. Usually, such resolutions pass easily.

{mosads}But, to maintain the existing ban on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), that resolution would have to continue the ban. And President Bush has called for Congress to lift the moratorium.

That could lead to a fight on the continuing resolution. Republicans and Democrats who want to lift the ban on offshore drilling could oppose the resolution and President Bush could threaten to veto a resolution that continues the ban. If both sides stick to their position, that could lead to the possibility of a government shutdown.

Hoyer said he would not rule out the possibility of a fight escalating on the continuing resolution.

“I think there could be an energy fight over any issue,” Hoyer said. But he added, “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet.”

And he indicated that Democrats are preparing for such a fight, noting that President Bush has himself called for renewing the moratorium in his previous budgets. The administration this week changed its budget request to call for lifting the moratorium.

“That shows how they are politicizing this issue,” Hoyer said.

But Democratic leaders’ opposition to drilling in protected areas is being undercut by Democratic lawmakers who publicly disagree.

In a news conference Wednesday, five Democrats and even more Republicans involved in a “working group” on energy said they would vote against any CR that contained an offshore drilling moratorium.

The working group is a bipartisan effort that has produced legislation to open the OCS to drilling.