ME FIRST — GOVERNORS PUSH THE HILL FOR PERMIT CERTAINTY: Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox met with House lawmakers of the bipartisan Build America Caucus Wednesday to push for Congress to act on permitting reform.
Cox told Pro’s Josh Siegel after the meeting that part of his message is for lawmakers to impose limits on executive branch power to revoke approved permits and stall over approvals. He cited the Biden administration holding up drilling permits in Utah and the Trump administration halting renewable project approvals in his state.
“It's impossible to invest in infrastructure if there's no certainty,” Cox said. “And so even if we have an administration that's favorable to the projects that we're working on, that could go away in three or four years.”
The meeting was led by Caucus Chair Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif) and Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), who both said they hoped the convening would "build trust" between the parties to address a bipartisan priority, and organized by advocacy group Inclusive Abundance. Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman also stopped by to tout his SPEED Act as a response to a push from Cox and a dozen other governors for Congress to pass comprehensive legislation easing permitting rules to speed the construction of new energy production, pipeline, and transmission projects.
Energy staffers for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, also led a permitting briefing for Build America Caucus and Problem Solvers Caucus staffers Wednesday.
(https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter/2025/12/a-venezuela-sized-question-00685982)