Passage of the bill, dubbed H.R. 1 or the Lower Energy Costs Act, comes as Republicans campaigned heavily on fuel prices in their bid to gain the House majority.
While the bill is not expected to advance further — at least in its current form — it does contain many provisions related to speeding up energy and other infrastructure projects, known as permitting reform.
Permitting reform is one area that could see bipartisan compromise in the months ahead, and the GOP bill serves as something of a starting point for Republicans as they seek to negotiate with Democrats.
Meanwhile, Republicans have indicated they may try to use leverage in the debt ceiling battle to score some energy policy wins — though it’s not clear what exactly that would look like or whether they could convince Democrats to go along with it.
While many discussions on the bill remained highly partisan — Republicans touted it as a highlight of their agenda, while Democrats nicknamed it the “Polluters over People Act” — there were party defections on both sides of the aisle.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) voted against the measure while Democratic Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Jared Golden (Maine) voted for it.
Broadly, the bill seeks to bolster fossil fuel production and exports, as well as domestic mining. It also aims to speed up the approval process for energy and other infrastructure projects and repeal some programs in the sweeping climate legislation Democrats passed last year.
The Senate is not expected to take it up, and President Biden has threatened to veto it.
Read more about the legislation’s passage at TheHill.com.
