The GOP seeks new restrictions on the use of US oil reserves.

WASHINGTON — For the second time this month, House Republicans are seeking to restrict the presidential use of the nation’s emergency oil reserves, a proposal that has already drawn a White House veto threat.

A GOP bill to be voted on Friday would require the government to offset any non-emergency withdrawal from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with new drilling on public lands and oceans. Republicans accuse President Joe Biden of abusing the reserve for political reasons to keep gasoline prices low, while Biden says the reserve needed to be tapped last year in response to a ban on Russian oil imports following the Invasion of Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin.

Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the strategic reserve over several months, bringing the reserve to its lowest level since the 1980s. The administration said last month it will begin replenishing the reserve now that oil prices have fallen. .

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has attacked the latest GOP proposal, which follows a bill passed two weeks ago that would bar the Energy Department from selling oil from the strategic reserve to companies owned or under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.

“House Republicans will vote to raise gas prices for American families… and help Putin’s war goals by interfering with our ability to release oil,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to the current bill from the Republican Party. “These extreme policies would subject working families to immense financial pain and increase our deficit, all just to benefit the wealthiest taxpayers and big corporations.”

Speaking with Jean-Pierre at the White House, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the bill would make it “more difficult to provide relief to Americans in the future” from oil disruptions that could drive up prices.

Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and sponsored the bill from the GOP, accused Granholm and the White House of multiple misleading claims, including an erroneous claim that the bill could affect the use of the reserve during a presidentially declared emergency. .

“At a time when gasoline prices are rising, Secretary Granholm and the Biden administration must be transparent with the American people about their efforts to cover up how they have abused the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an election year gimmick.” , McMorris. Rogers said.

“Republicans want lasting, long-lasting relief at the pump. The best way to do this is to free up American energy,” which his legislation helps achieve, added McMorris Rodgers of Washington state.

The heated rhetoric is part of a broader fight over oil drilling and climate change. Republicans say oil leasing restrictions imposed by the Biden administration hamper US energy production and hurt the economy, while Democrats tout a sweeping climate law passed last year as a crucial step to ward off the nation of fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas. The measure authorizes billions in spending to boost renewable energy such as wind and solar, and includes incentives for Americans to buy millions of more efficient electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels and appliances.