Adds details on US Senate vote
A bipartisan permitting bill that would overhaul government approvals of energy projects has cleared a major procedural hurdle in the US Senate, despite a last-minute threat from President Donald Trump to continue blocking wind projects if the bill passes.
The Senate on Monday voted 73-25 to start debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), easily surpassing a 60-vote threshold needed to avoid a filibuster. Senate Republicans and Democrats who spent the last year in negotiations said the bill will eventually bring down energy prices for consumers by making it easier to build pipelines, install electric transmission lines and develop clean energy projects alike.
But Trump injected last-minute uncertainty into the procedural vote by saying he plans to keep blocking wind projects, even if the bill becomes law. Democrats had spent the last month in negotiations with the White House seeking assurances that if they approved BAAJA, the administration would restart regular permitting of wind and solar projects that had been blocked.
"The bill hasn't been fully negotiated," Trump told reporters. "I will not approve wind turbines because wind turbines are a major loser."
Asked for comment, the White House said Trump remained fully in support of BAAJA and reiterated his support for the bill in the press briefing.
BAAJA would fast-track environmental reviews of infrastructure and make it harder for permits of fully authorized projects to be revoked, either in response to a lawsuit or because of a change in administrations. The bill also includes language to deter the White House from banning full categories of projects, such as wind farms or LNG export terminals, while making it easier to approve electric transmission lines.
But some Democrats say they cannot support the bill as written because they worry Trump will use it to accelerate fossil fuel development, while continuing to slow-walk approvals of wind and solar projects. And many environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, say BAAJA goes too far by shielding permits from meaningful review, even when there are flagrant errors. Former US vice president Al Gore, who is influential on climate policy, on Monday said Democrats should take up permitting legislation next year when they control Congress.
"Now is not the time to give the Trump administration freer rein to double down on fossil fuels," Gore wrote on social media.
Even so, the bill has been picking up major endorsements that make it more likely to pass, including in the Republican-led US House of Representatives where passage could be most difficult. On Monday, electric utility trade group the Edison Electric Institute — which in 2024 helped block a smaller permitting bill — gave its formal endorsement. Far-right conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus the same day said they wanted to pass "robust permitting bill" by the end of the year, although they did not specifically endorse BAAJA.
The White House has started advancing clean energy projects as part of negotiations on the bill. The US Department of Defense on Monday advanced another 10 onshore wind projects that were previously under review, the White House said, including four projects in Texas and two projects in Illinois.
"The Trump administration has walked the walk. Now it's time for the Senate to stop talking and deliver!" a White House official said. "After weeks of good-faith negotiations and actions from the White House, the passage of BAAJA now falls entirely on the Senate."
Now that the Senate has voted to begin debate on BAAJA, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) said he expects the US Interior Department will have "something to say" related to permitting of energy projects. As many as 250 projects that are backed up at the Department of Defense will "begin to move" as part of the deal to return to normal permitting, Whitehouse said.
