Congress Fails to Reach Deal on Permitting Reform

With a GOP trifecta assuming power in January, House Speaker Johnson said the permit reform can wait while lawmakers focus on adopting a stopgap funding bill.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) walks out of the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 22, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A bipartisan permitting reform measure spearheaded by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) as a capstone to his career as a moderate Senate dealmaker will not advance in the House before the lame-duck session of Congress adjourns for the year.

Manchin’s proposed Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, co-sponsored with Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), will not be incorporated into a stopgap continuing resolution funding bill that Congress must pass by Dec. 20 to avert a government shutdown, assuring it won’t be heard on the House floor in the waning days of the session.