Is This Finally the Moment for Permitting Reform?

By Chris Moyer

Permitting reform is alive. But maybe not for long.

Since the federal government re-opened 22 days ago, permitting reform has regained momentum on Capitol Hill. House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman advanced his Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act out of committee just before Thanksgiving. The bill is focused solely on NEPA reforms, combining procedural and judicial review changes that streamline agency compliance and codify elements of the Seven Counties Supreme Court decision.

The bill garnered support from two moderate Democrats who broke with their party, largely out of frustration with the standstill in Congress. In their eyes, Westerman compromised enough on language that would protect permitted projects from the kind of abrupt reversals that have come from the Trump administration and frustrated both parties. Westerman’s now expecting House floor votes the week of December 15, where it may get additional Democratic votes.

While the bill will almost certainly pass the House, it’s hard to see swift movement in the Senate—Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich, both ranking members of key committees, have their own legislation and thoughts on how to proceed. Once their imprint is made, the House will have to vote again before it reaches the President’s desk.

That’s where a potentially historic twist comes in: Republicans could lose their House majority well before November.

Punchbowl News reported that following Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise retirement announcement—she’ll depart in early January—“lots of [R]epublicans are considering retiring mid term because of frustration/unhappiness.”  The New York Times echoed this assessment in a story on Wednesday, noting that Speaker Johnson’s grip on the gavel “appears weaker than ever” and that members across the party are openly questioning his leadership. “Some predict that he may not last as the speaker for the rest of this term.”

Control of the House has never flipped mid-term, but the confluence of an already slim margin and unusually intense internal friction—leading to a wave of retirements—suggests the possibility is more real than ever.

When Greene departs, Johnson’s majority will shrink to two votes. It would be unwise to assume no one else will leave. The unpredictable Nancy Mace may not remain in Congress much longer. And it is common for members to announce retirement after holiday discussions with their families, which means further attrition is possible. This cycle’s retirees also seem more likely than usual to resign immediately rather than serve out their terms. Punchbowl put it bluntly: “How appealing is it to return to the Capitol when the House spends most of its time voting on censure resolutions or meaningless messaging bills?”

Unexpected events also loom large. Deaths and health issues can abruptly change the numbers, and they occur more often than many realize. Since 2020, fourteen members of Congress have died in office.

So what does any of this mean for permitting reform?

The clock is ticking. Republicans are pushing through the SPEED Act with minimal Democratic support. The bill as currently constituted seems to fall short of garnering support from seven Senate Democrats. Senator Brian Schatz, an influential voice in the Senate Democratic Caucus on energy issues, is clearly not on board. He says bipartisan reform is needed but insists it must address Trump’s attacks on clean energy, revive stalled projects, and include serious transmission policy. He also sharply criticized the American Clean Power Association for endorsing the SPEED Act, arguing they should push for reforms that cut costs rather than what he views as a fossil-fuel-focused package.

If Republicans want to get permitting reform done this Congress, they will need to give more in their negotiations with Democrats.

Their window is not for another 12 months, but much shorter than that—potentially only a handful of months, or even weeks. At which point we’ll be getting, as Yogi Berra might have said, déjà vu all over again.

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