Congress locks in oil drilling for a decade, strips president's climate authority

What it does

This bill mandates the federal government conduct a minimum of 4 onshore oil and gas lease sales per year in nine specified states (Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nevada, and any other state with available land), and at least 2 annual offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico starting in 2026, plus 6 lease sales in Alaska's Cook Inlet over 10 years. It locks in specific lease terms, requires replacement sales if any are canceled, and strips the President of authority to pause or delay federal energy leasing without congressional approval.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to mandate and accelerate oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters by removing executive discretion and imposing minimum annual lease sale quotas. Despite the 'Made in America Energy' framing, it is functionally a subsidy and protection mechanism for the fossil fuel industry.

What the text implies

• The bill strips the President of authority to pause leasing for environmental or climate reasons, effectively locking in fossil fuel extraction regardless of future climate science or public demand for renewable energy.
• Mandatory replacement sales if any lease is canceled or delayed means the government must conduct additional sales to meet quotas, potentially forcing sales of marginal or environmentally sensitive parcels.
• The 'rebuttable presumption' that any presidential pause is a violation of law creates a legal presumption against executive action, shifting burden of proof and potentially exposing administrations to litigation.
• Locking in lease terms from 2023 (Gulf of Mexico Sale 261) prevents updating environmental standards, bonding requirements, or royalty rates even as climate science or market conditions change over the 10-year program.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens bear the environmental and climate costs of accelerated fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters, while the financial benefits accrue primarily to oil and gas companies. The bill also constrains executive environmental authority that citizens rely on for climate and conservation protections, shifting power away from democratic accountability mechanisms.

Who stands to gain

• oil and gas exploration and production companies
• fossil fuel majors
• energy services contractors

Named in the bill

Secretary of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Mineral Leasing Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976, Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota — and 7 more

Where it stands

11 cosponsors: 11 Republicans.

• Feb 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 6, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $403,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 74 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Steve Daines, the sponsor, reported $901,144 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Ocean Conservancy — $403,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.