White House officials are increasingly engaged in permitting talks between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill at a time when energy prices are becoming centerpiece of the brewing affordability wars.

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump’s legislative affairs team and the National Energy Dominance Council — an entity designed to bolster U.S. production — have become more involved in the congressional deliberations, according to both a White House official granted anonymity to speak freely and Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

The dynamic shows how much both parties and the president’s aides want to get long-running permitting reform talks across the finish line even in an election year.

 

“We’ve been engaged with them the whole time, but I would say they are more advanced and more engaged,” Capito said recently of her interactions with the White House.

Two top Democrats — Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-N.M.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — have been boycotting the talks since the administration move to halt construction of offshore wind projects.

Whitehouse and Heinrich agreed to reengage last week after the Interior Department said it was processing permits for solar and onshore wind ventures. Courts have also ruled against the offshore stop-work orders.

“Seeing permits continuing to be approved by the administration is critical for ensuring that talks can continue,” the Senate Democrats said Thursday. “Further mischief will undo our willingness to resume negotiations.”

But even though formal negotiations have been on ice, lawmakers from both parties had continued informal talks and expected deliberations to resume. The White House was similarly interested in getting the dealmaking back on track.

In a statement this weekend, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said the administration has achieved “incredible executive reforms to streamline and modernize the permitting process in America, but we need legislative permitting reforms to unlock much-needed critical energy projects. We are working closely with our partners in Congress to drive these reforms, which will help lower energy costs for Americans.”

Lawmakers have been engaged in permitting reform negotiations since passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act but have only secured incremental successes. And this year’s coming midterms and competing priorities only adds to the difficulties of a deal.

Still, conversations with roughly a dozen lawmakers, lobbyists, administration officials and advocates have shed light on how the moment could be ripe for legislation that would — more or less — accelerate environmental reviews, restrict litigation, protect permitted projects and make it easier to build out transmission and pipelines.

For one, the people said, the White House is facing a difficult political narrative on electricity prices amid the data center boom and is looking for ways to message on the issue.

Second, Whitehouse has a sense of urgency to strike a deal before potentially becoming top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee next year. He and other Democrats see reform as a way to connect more renewable energy onto the grid.

“The real question is: How far are Dems willing to go?” said a former Republican congressional aide about rolling back laws like the National Environmental Policy Act.

Third, project certainty has become a priority among members of both parties. Republicans for year’s have complained about Obama and Biden administration efforts against coal, oil and gas. Now Democrats are complaining about the president’s attacks on wind and solar.

Despite the latest movement on both sides, no one expects Trump — or his energy-focused Cabinet members — to tamp down on their frequent derision of wind power.

When asked about that, Heinrich said, “I am more focused on outcomes than rhetoric.”