Official X account for the Republicans on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Chairman @SenMikeLee of #Utah.
Washington, DC
Joined October 2009
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Senate Energy GOP retweeted
BAAJA is a chance Congress can’t pass up. It's time to change the status quo.
Fantastic News!
BREAKING: DHS announces via federal register that Secretary Mullin is closing a Biden-era loophole that allowed Chinese nationals to travel to the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa for 14 days, which four GOP Senators alleged was facilitating Chinese birth tourism. Senators @SenMikeLee, @votetimscott, @SenBillCassidy, & @JohnCornyn had written a letter to Mullin in April, urging him to close the loophole, which Mullin has now done.
Via the notice:
“The Secretary has broad authority to suspend the program for good cause,
including threats to national security, law enforcement interests, and immigration enforcement. The Secretary has determined that there is good cause to suspend EVS-
TAP, while DHS, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Interior, evaluates the program.”
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨
I’m very pleased to report that @SecMullinDHS at @DHSgov just CLOSED Joe Biden’s loophole for Chinese birth tourism for which we sounded the alarm earlier this year.
America is not a nursery for the CCP to steal citizenship.
Thank you, President Trump!
NEW: Four GOP Senators, @BasedMikeLee, @JohnCornyn, @SenRickScott, & @BillCassidy, have penned a letter to DHS Secretary Mullin, urging him to close a Biden era “birth tourism” loophole that allows Chinese nationals to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days without a visa, which they say is being exploited by the Chinese due to birthright citizenship.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
You know how bad things have to be for all of these people to agree on something?
NEWS: 19 FORMER ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS ENDORSE THE BIPARTISAN PERMITTING REFORM BILL
Today, a group of former Cabinet members and White House principals across seven Democratic and Republican administrations sent a letter calling on Congress to pass BAAJA. Here are the signatories:
Janet YELLEN, Michael R. POMPEO, Steven T. MNUCHIN, Leon E. PANETTA, Timothy F. GEITHNER, Henry M. PAULSON, Jr., Robert E. RUBIN, Stephen MIRAN, Jared BERNSTEIN, Tyler GOODSPEED, Jason FURMAN, Glenn HUBBARD, Laura D’Andrea TYSON, Michael J. BOSKIN, Jeffrey ZIENTS, Jake SULLIVAN, Brian DEESE, Larry KUDLOW, Allan B. HUBBARD
Key highlights from the letter:
1. “We are not building infrastructure fast enough to remain globally competitive… The median time for a new power plant to move from an interconnection request to commercial operation has more than doubled, from less than two years for projects built between 2000 and 2007 to more than four years for projects built between 2018 and 2024.
2. China has built more high-voltage transmission in the last fifteen years than the U.S. has built in all of its history... In 2024, China accounted for 31.5% of global knowledge- and technology-intensive manufacturing value added, compared with 20.7% for the United States.
3. Federally funded or permitted projects require NEPA review, but private projects often do not, creating a threat of failure precisely where the government is trying to be proactive, strategic, and engaged.
4. A project that spends years awaiting approval must continue carrying development and financing costs while remaining exposed to rising input costs. The IEA reports that prices for utility-scale transformers increased 26% in 2024, while lead times for some transformers have stretched as long as six years.
5. Mining projects also face tremendous uncertainty: a 2026 study by researchers at the Colorado School of Mines found that permitting for modern mining projects takes an average of 5.5 years, rising to 8.9 years for contested projects. The U.S. currently has the second-longest mine development timeline in the world.
6. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is the most significant bipartisan legislative effort that Congress has undertaken in decades to tackle these challenges.
7. BAAJA addresses key constraints stifling American industry by requiring interregional transmission planning, strengthening the federal backstop for nationally significant transmission lines, and creating a faster, more predictable process for connecting new generation to the grid.
8. BAAJA also makes permits more durable by imposing tighter timelines for litigation and limiting frivolous lawsuits that can halt projects indefinitely, while preserving community input and judicial review of substantive agency decisions.”
The letter was organized by @arnabdatta321 on behalf of @IFP and covered exclusively by the WSJ this morning.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
🥤 There's a new BLAST on Capitol Hill!
It's called BAAJA, and it's bringing some much-needed energy to permitting reform. ⚡#permitprosperity
@SenCapito, @SenWhitehouse, @SenMikeLee & @SenatorHeinrich have put a bipartisan solution on the table.
Now that's refreshing! 💥
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
There is no negotiating with the anti-growth Left.
They hate that permitting reform—the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act—will lower prices and grow prosperity for American families.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
Every other DC Trade Association is posting rather wordy statements about the American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 - otherwise known as the Permitting Bill to you and me.
We here at USOGA value your time so here's our official statement.
"Pass the frickin' bill so we can start building things again."
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
Yes, incredible work by Chairman @SenMikeLee, RM @SenatorHeinrich, Chairman @SenCapito, and RM @SenWhitehouse to move this forward. Thank you.
Lee, Capito, Heinrich, and Whitehouse Introduce Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 nitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1jGXgBpzY…
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
🚨 WE HAVE A PERMITTING DEAL🚨
And it is easily the best permitting bill we've ever gotten!
- The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is HUGE (400+ pages) and both sides got a LOT.
- The bill is much bigger and better than either Manchin post-IRA in 2022 or Manchin-Barrasso in 2024.
Once I finish reading the text I'll publish an explainer. For now, here are a few high level takeaways.
1. Transmission: The bill is absolutely HUGE for transmission, going further than Manchin-Barrasso. Includes: interregional transmission, limited federal backstop authority, interconnection queue reforms, directives for advanced grid-enhancing tech, and oversight of utilities. It's absolutely AMAZING all of this got in.
2. NEPA: The bill has BIG changes to NEPA, including fixes for judicial review that underpins the law's costs. Still reading but this is even better than I expected!
3. Certainty: The bill includes strong provisions to push back on misuse of permitting, like we're seeing with the admin's abuses against offshore wind.
4. Historic Preservation: The bill includes changes to the NHPA 106 process, including changes to judicial review that will help right-size the process.
5. Clean Water: The bill fixes problems with section 401 by adding new requirements for states and makes section 404 nationwide permits easier to comply with.
6. Geothermal: The bill includes big wins for geothermal, including parity with oil and gas catexs.
7. Mining: The bill fixes the "Rosemont decision"
8. Endangered Species: The bill creates a new path for states to take on endangered species consultation.
9. Hydro: Fixes for certain hydroelectric projects
10. Ratepayer protection: The bill adds protections for ratepayers from added data centers. Looks to be stronger than the House passed bill by quite a bit.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
We need to make it easier to build, grow, power, and fuel our country.
We need to lower the cost of living for American families.
Permitting reform is moving forward.
Here’s the text: energy.senate.gov/wp-content…
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
Lee, Capito, Heinrich, and Whitehouse Introduce Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 nitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1jGXgBpzY…
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
Senate Democrats have a rare opportunity to pass bipartisan permitting reform that would dramatically lower energy costs for the American people.
The time is now. Delaying would be futile to our efforts and good faith negotiations.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
It’s funny, no one outside DC seems to think Congress should take an early vacation instead of working to pass legislation that will improve every American’s life.
Senate Energy GOP retweeted
Democrats want additional time to consider a deal they offered and Republicans accepted.
Republicans, the president included, having accepted the offer, could "sabotage" the effort by pursuing it on the floor.
Both parties win with this deal, but only one side is delaying.
