Democrats in the Senate failed to pass a resolution that would have reversed President Donald Trump’s executive order on ‘Unleashing American Energy’ in a 53-47 party-line vote.
The White House argued that scrapping the emergency would endanger nearly 900,000 jobs and have a negative $3.6 trillion impact. The order encourages domestic energy production on federal lands and nixed a Biden-era push to strive for more electric vehicles on the road.
‘Tim Kaine wants to impoverish Americans. President Donald Trump’s executive order brings America into the future and unleashes prosperity. Senator [Tim] Kaine wants to cost the economy trillions and risk losing nearly a million jobs,’ deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
The resolution was introduced by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Martin Heinrich as they argued the emergency declaration made by the president would ‘benefit big oil’ but harm Americans, according to a statement provided by the lawmakers to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
‘The Trump Administration is living in a fantasy land,’ the Democratic senators stated. ‘Energy demand is high and only getting higher, which is why it’s great that America is producing more energy than at any other point in our history. Decreasing the supply of American-made energy when demand is high is the quickest way to raise prices—and that’s exactly what President Trump’s sham energy emergency will do.’
‘By tampering with the market to favor some forms of energy over others and making it easier for fossil fuel companies to take Americans’ private property, Trump’s emergency declaration will benefit Big Oil, but leave American consumers with fewer choices and higher bills.’
Earlier on Wednesday, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., slammed the resolution as Democrats ‘trying to block common-sense measures’ to tackle ‘painfully high prices.’
‘After four years of reckless regulations and restrictions, energy prices have jumped 31 percent. Families are feeling it all across the country. To most Americans, this is the definition of an energy emergency. To Senate Democrats, it’s an inconvenient truth,’ he said in a floor speech.
‘This National Energy Emergency is part of President Trump’s swift actions, actions to unleash American energy. It’s part this broader vision of affordable, reliable, available American energy. Democrats oppose that,’ the Republican continued.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also slammed the Democrat effort: ‘Thanks in substantial part to a movement to shut down fossil-fuel-fired power plants before reliable sources of clean energy are available to replace them, America is running out of power even as we face huge new power demands. … If we don’t take action, we are going to be facing some very serious problems in the very near future, so I’m grateful to have a president who recognizes and acknowledges the energy emergency facing our nation.’
Senate Energy Committee Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, said, ‘Senate Democrats are yet again attempting to block President Trump’s efforts to secure cheaper, more reliable energy—just when America needs it most. Their message to families is clear: pay more, expect less.’
The Trump administration emphasized that ending the emergency would bring back Biden-era policies. A White House document obtained by Fox News Digital stressed that under those policies, during Biden’s first two years, families spent an extra $10,000 in energy costs on average, citing a study published by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
The document cited that estimates of liquefied natural gas (LNG) growth in the new administration were projected to bring in half a million jobs annually and boost U.S. GDP by $1.3 trillion through 2040, per a study by S&P Global in December.