Congress blocks oil and gas leasing in Arctic refuge
H.J.Res. 131 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision. · Filed by Nicholas Begich (R-AK) · Introduced Oct 10, 2025 · Signed
Your members of Congress
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What it does
Congress canceled the Bureau of Land Management's decision. The decision would have allowed oil and gas leasing in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain. The cancellation stops the government from issuing oil and gas leases there.
Who it affects
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and its animals are protected from drilling. Oil companies lose the chance to lease land there. Citizens benefit from less greenhouse gas pollution.
One thing to notice
Once Congress blocks a rule this way, the agency cannot issue the same rule again. Congress must pass a new law to allow it.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Oct 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 10, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Nov 18, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 209 (Roll no. 295). (text: CR H4750)”
- Dec 4, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 49 - 45. Record Vote Number: 632”
- Dec 10, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Dec 11, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-52”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 2 reports from Dec 2025 to Dec 2025.
Those reports show $2,180,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 20 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.
Nicholas Begich, who sponsored the bill, received $1,113,127 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- American Petroleum Institute — $1,920,000 in 1 report
- Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, Inc. — $260,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- Bureau of Land Management — The government agency that manages public land and decides who can use it.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — A protected area in Alaska where wild animals live and oil companies want to drill.
- Coastal Plain — The flat land near the ocean where the refuge's oil and gas leasing would happen.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,309 characters) on May 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-02.
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