A bipartisan permitting reform measure spearheaded by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) as a capstone to his career as a moderate Senate dealmaker will not advance in the House before the lame-duck congress adjourns for the year.
Manchin’s proposed Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, co-sponsored with Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), will not be incorporated into a stopgap continuing resolution funding bill that Congress must pass by Dec. 20 to avert a government shutdown, assuring it won’t be heard on the House floor in the waning days of the session.
With Manchin retiring and Barrasso set to assume the Senate majority whip—the GOP’s no. 2 floor leader—both saw the Energy Permitting Reform Act as keys to their legacies as chair and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee over the past two years….