Last night, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it will no longer hold court-ordered offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:

"This announcement puts the Biden administration’s blatant disregard for Americans, our economy and our ongoing inflation crisis on full display. Mere days after gas prices hit historic highs, President Biden is killing new offshore leases for the rest of the year. This keeps us squarely in the arms of OPEC+ countries to meet our energy needs. The decision is a slap in the face to Americans who are already being forced to choose between sky high gas bills and grocery bills. I can’t imagine a more tone-deaf, short-sighted decision that jeopardizes our economic and energy security without doing a single thing to help the environment or the American people. President Biden should call off his domestic energy attack dogs, put an actual commonsense plan in place, and for once try to make the situation better rather than Bidenizing it."