Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 budget requests for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR). Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) issued the following statement in response:

"Under the Biden Administration, Department of the Interior agencies like the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have proven themselves to be ineffective stewards of our resources. One of the most obvious examples of their dereliction of duty was their failure to release a timely five-year National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Not only did this delay leave America without a plan for managing its offshore resources, but the plan they eventually did release is completely insufficient. The paltry three lease sales put forward by BOEM will raise prices at the pump, destroy good-paying jobs in Gulf Coast communities, and put us at the mercy of countries like Iran, Russia, and China. As this subcommittee examines budget requests for Fiscal Year 2025, I was glad for the chance to question the Directors of BOEM, BSEE, and ONRR on their failed policies that have placed undue burdens on the American people and threatened our strategic national security."

Background

For the first time since 1980, the Department of the Interior (DOI) failed to release a timely five-year National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program. This unprecedented delay has left the United States without a strategic plan for managing offshore energy resources. BOEM's forthcoming three-sale offshore leasing plan, which is not slated to take effect until July 2024, is embarrassingly insufficient, does not meet the nation's energy needs and compromises our national security and energy independence.

The Biden administration's policies are demonstrably hostile to American energy production, which is fundamental to our economic and security interests. In stark contrast, Republican-led initiatives like H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), and H.R. 5616, the BRIDGE Production Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), offer a clear strategy to bolster energy security, ensure long-term resource sustainability and secure robust federal and state revenues.

The Biden administration has also weaponized environmental litigation surrounding new energy development. This tactic led to significant delays for the Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261, which will likely continue for future mandated sales. 

Today's hearing was an opportunity for members to hear from the BOEM, BSEE, and ONRR directors, hold them to account for the Biden administration’s failing energy policies, and conduct oversight of the agencies’ actions and proposed budgets.