Category: News Article

Early flashpoints in the Biden administration’s environmental agenda came to a head last night on the Senate floor, as Republicans used a marathon session of budget votes to put Democrats on the record on drilling and the Keystone XL pipeline. While nonbinding and largely symbolic, the handful of energy and environment votes during the budget resolution “vote-a-rama” that went into this morning’s early hours offered a preview of the legislative fights to come, with Republicans seeking to wield tensions within the Democratic caucus against Biden’s early executive actions. Democrats initially turned the tables on one attack by uniting as a

There has been one law nipping at the heels of the U.S. Postal Service for the past 15 years. It requires USPS to put money toward retiree health benefits some 50 years ahead of schedule. The mandate has the Postal Service funding benefits for workers it has yet to hire. And the burden has contributed to budget challenges as the USPS cuts staff and reduces post office hours. Montana has frequently been on the short list for cuts. Now, after years of postal workers lobbying Congress to deliver relief, it appears lawmakers might give their stamp of approval to removing

Nearly 50 senators have signed on to a letter pledging to oppose taxpayer funding of abortions. Senate Pro-Life Caucus chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced the letter on Friday, as “a unified message” to Democratic leadership that the 47 signers would “vote to block any bill that would undermine the Hyde Amendment or any other pro-life protections.” “We are united in our resolve to guard against any changes to Federal law that would unsettle nearly half a century of bipartisan consensus against taxpayer funding for abortion on demand, or otherwise threaten the lives of unborn children,” the letter states. The Hyde

The Postal Service seeks to cut costs and its regulator gave the agency greater flexibility setting higher mail rates, but Congress could have a far greater impact putting the Postal Service on firmer financial footing — if it chooses to act. Members of the House and Senate have introduced variations of the same postal reform bill in recent years, but nearly all failed gain much momentum. Lawmakers this week, however, brought forward the first major postal reform bill of the new Congress. Reintroduction of this bill, which passed the House last year — along with other recent postal actions on

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday introduced the bipartisan TRICARE Retiree Protection Act to ensure that America’s military retirees will not lose their healthcare as a result of new policy changes that took effect on January 1st, 2021. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) cosponsored the legislation. “Our servicemembers bravely fought for our nation and as they retire after years of selfless service, it is our duty to ensure they’re taken care of,” Manchin said. “I introduced the TRICARE Retiree Protection Act to extend the grace period from 180 days to 12 months to enroll in a payment

Energy Secretary nominee Jennifer Granholm easily moved out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this morning on a bipartisan 13-4 vote. Lawmakers will now race to see whether they can get her approved by the full Senate before the chamber gets bogged down by impeachment next week. That vote has not yet been scheduled. The former Michigan governor earned bipartisan praise from lawmakers on the committee. Incoming Chairman Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) heralded her leadership during the 2008 financial crisis and its effects on the auto industry. “She helped save the auto industry. She helped diversify Michigan’s economy. She

HELENA, Mont.- The future of the Keystone XL pipeline project remains unclear, and so does it’s impact in Montana. On his first day in office, President Biden stopped production, saying plans were not consistent with the administration’s economic and climate values. The 1,700 mile project runs through a large part of the state and would ship nearly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast. Both sides oppose the President’s permit suspension because of significant job loss in Montana. Exact numbers weren’t easy to find because it’s winter and there aren’t many Montanans working on

A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers is once again pushing to remove mandatory payments toward the health benefits for future U.S. Postal Service retirees, aiming to eliminate a controversial requirement  upon which the cash-strapped mailing agency has defaulted for years. Congress first established the prefunding mandate in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the last major legislative overhaul of the Postal Service, and the requirement has hampered the agency ever since. Shortly after the law’s passage, the recession hit and mail volume began to decline precipitously. That trend has continued to this day, leaving USPS without the financial means

Montana Republicans have introduced bills in both chambers of Congress in a longshot effort to override President Joe Biden and reauthorize construction of the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Biden canceled the project in one of many executive orders on his first day in office, angering Republican lawmakers who have derided his efforts to mitigate climate change as an attack on the U.S. energy sector. The pipeline’s construction would have supported more than 10,000 jobs in 2021, but a much smaller number of workers would be needed to operate it in the long term. Biden, meanwhile, has touted his clean-energy initiatives as opportunities for job creation and warned that climate change presents “an existential crisis.”

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale said Tuesday they had introduced legislation to reauthorize the pipeline, which would run through Montana and five other states, transporting crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to ports and refineries along the Gulf Coast. The two-page bill would allow TC Energy Corp. to “construct, connect, operate and maintain” pipeline facilities at the international border without a presidential permit.

“We must reverse Biden’s disastrous decision and send a clear message that supporting American workers is more important than supporting Saudi Arabia and allowing radical environmentalists to cash in on campaign promises,” Daines said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the lone Democrat in Montana’s congressional delegation and a longtime supporter of the Keystone XL, meanwhile signed a letter Tuesday urging Biden to reconsider his decision.

“This project has the potential to support thousands of good-paying jobs, increase tax revenue into local communities, and support a safer, more efficient alternative to transporting fossil fuel by truck or railroad,” Tester wrote. “The completion of the Keystone XL pipeline would be a powerful economic driver for Montana. I continue to support this project as long it is built to the highest safety standards, uses American steel, respects private property rights and includes robust consultation with tribes.”

Tester acknowledged that Native communities and environmentalists have raised concerns about the route of the pipeline and the potential for leaks and spills that could hurt water quality.

“With a straightforward conversation and commonsense safeguards, I believe we can make adjustments to the proposed project that will provide even stronger protections for people and clean water, while still supporting jobs and economic development along the pipeline route,” Tester wrote.

Tester voted for a previous bill to authorize the pipeline in 2015 and later that year joined 61 other senators in an unsuccessful vote to override a veto by then-President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, Tester’s office said he, Daines and Rosendale all share “the same goal,” but legislation may not be a simple way around Biden’s executive order.

“Our team is looking closely at every option available to get this pipeline built, and Jon is glad to have the rest of Montana’s delegation pushing alongside him toward that goal,” a Tester spokesman said in an email. “The reality is, whatever the status of the presidential permit, there are still outstanding court cases surrounding other aspects of the project. That’s why Jon is focusing not just on the presidential permit, which the Daines bill covers, but is trying to bring everyone to the table at once, so we can get these issues resolved once and for all and get folks to work building this pipeline as soon as possible.”

It’s unclear whether the Daines and Rosendale bills can gain any traction in the Democrat-controlled House or the evenly split Senate, which has Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential tie-breaking vote.

Daines and 25 other Republican senators signed a letter last week demanding to meet with Biden about his climate and energy actions. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had no plan to grant the meeting, noting concerns about COVID-19, but he would remain “engaged on an individual basis” with lawmakers of both parties.

In an interview with the Daily Inter Lake last week, Tester said he doesn’t understand the “mystique” of the Keystone XL, noting thousands of miles of other pipelines already traverse the country. Pipelines are a safer way to transport oil than trucks and railways, and in the meantime the U.S. should work to fight climate change by investing in research and development of cost-competitive renewable energy sources, he argued.

“Some people think that if you just deprive people from carbon-based fuels, that things are going to get better. I don’t see that,” Tester said. “I’m a farmer. I put diesel fuel in my tractor. I don’t have any other options. Until we get those options, that’s where we’re at. So we need to put some money into R&D to make sure we get some alternative sources that are more climate-friendly.”

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said during a press conference Tuesday that President Joe Biden “wiped away” America’s energy revolution with the stroke of a pen.

McCarthy, speaking alongside several other House Republicans at Enterprise Products in Houston, slammed Biden’s anti-American energy policies:

We’ve watched America in the last few years become almost energy independent, making America stronger, creating more jobs, lowering the price of energy for Americans, and also making the world safer against our adversaries. I had never envisioned all of that success could be wiped away with one pen.

Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Brian Babin (R-TX), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), Michael McCloud (R-TX), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Yvette Herrell (R-NM) joined McCarthy for the press conference.

“I had never envisioned President Biden, on the day of being sworn in, talking about unity, but in less than two weeks, wiping away tens of thousands of Americans’ jobs, of empowering our adversaries to be stronger, and putting the energy costs of Americans on a path to go higher,” McCarthy added.

McCarthy also added that Biden’s actions to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline and new oil and natural gas mining permits on federal lands would harm Americans that service the energy industry.

The House GOP leader asked rhetorically, “What about the small hotel owner or the restaurant owner that are now losing their jobs because of his action?”

McCarthy said he and other House Republicans will join with Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) to introduce the Keystone Pipeline Preservation Jobs Act. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) will introduce the Senate version of the legislation.

“If President Biden is serious about any unity, come to Houston, come to middle America, come look in the faces of those workers, who earn $80,000 a year and tell them why you took their jobs away without even talking to them,” McCarthy said.