House Natural Resources hearing opens with partisan split over ESA reform, permitting and energy priorities

Chairman Westerman opened the House Natural Resources Committee's member-day hearing by outlining Republican priorities including reinstating onshore oil and gas lease sales, increasing timber harvesting on federal lands, streamlining permitting, and advancing the "ESA Amendments Act of 2025."

The chair said the committee's recent work included a budget reconciliation title that ‘‘generates more than 18 and a half billion dollars in new revenues and savings’’ and argued that reforms would reduce wildfire risk and speed crucial projects. "Without tackling this reform, we cannot assure in a golden age of American energy," he said.

Ranking Member Huffman countered that committee Republicans had rushed an "extreme environmentally destructive bill" through a markup the previous week and criticized the refusal to consider more than 20 Democratic amendments. Huffman urged the committee to find bipartisan priorities and highlighted Democratic goals such as balanced forest management, rational water policy, fish-stock restoration and honoring trust responsibilities with Indian country.

Huffman told members that the committee should address climate impacts and clean energy manufacturing, and he noted specific Democratic legislative priorities that were not placed on the committee's near-term agenda, including legislation on tribal recognition and co-management that he said had been excluded from an upcoming hearing.

The chair then announced the member-day format: each member would have five minutes for oral testimony and written testimony would be entered into the record. No formal votes or committee actions occurred during the member-day hearing; the session consisted of member testimony and questions.