Legislation was passed 226 to 188 by the Republican-controlled House to prevent future administrations from prohibiting oil and gas drilling without the consent of Congress, giving President Donald Trump another significant win.
The “Protecting American Energy Production Act” was passed by lawmakers in a vote on Friday, which forbids the president from “declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium.”
Republican House members unanimously voted in favor of the legislation’s passage, while 118 Democrats voted against it.
Just weeks before he left office, former President Joe Biden banned future oil and gas drilling along 625 million acres of coastal and offshore waters, among other oil and gas-related regulations. The bill follows his actions.
The Republican who introduced the bill, Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, stated that the legislation was prompted by worries about possible fracking bans during the Biden administration.
“When President Biden took office, his administration took a ‘whole of government’ approach to wage war on American energy production, pandering to woke environmental extremists and crippling this thriving industry,” Pfluger said in a statement following the bill’s passage.
“My legislation that passed today is a necessary first step in reversing Biden’s war on energy by preventing the federal government from banning the use of hydraulic fracturing,” he said.
As part of his “drill, baby, drill” strategy, President Donald Trump has pledged to unleash energy produced in the United States since the campaign trail.
If the president signs the bill into law, it would stop the drilling method from being banned by subsequent administrations.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum launched internal investigations into agency actions that “burden” energy development on Monday, stripping the energy sector of “coercive” climate policies and oil lease bans implemented during the Biden administration.
This comes as a new national poll shows that most Democrats are dissatisfied with how their party’s lawmakers are performing in Congress.
According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday, 53% of Democratic respondents disapproved of congressional Democrats’ job performance, while only 41% expressed approval.
Among all voters surveyed between June 5–8, just 21% approved of how Democrats in Congress are handling their roles, with 70% voicing disapproval.
The 21% approval rating matches the figure from Quinnipiac’s February national poll, tying “an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first asked this question of registered voters in March 2009.”
In contrast, the survey shows that 79% of Republican voters approve of how congressional Republicans are performing, while 13% disapprove, Fox News reported, citing the survey’s results.
Among all voters, 32% approved of the job performance of congressional Republicans, while just over 60% expressed disapproval.
Overall approval for Republicans in Congress has declined by eight points since Quinnipiac’s February poll, with disapproval rising by nine points over the same period.
The Democratic Party has been in a state of political disarray since the November elections, when Republicans regained control of the White House and the Senate while holding on to their narrow majority in the House.
Adding to the setback, Republicans made inroads with key Democratic constituencies, including black, Hispanic, and younger voters.
Since President Donald Trump’s return to office earlier this year, an increasingly energized Democratic base has been pressuring party leaders to take a more forceful stance against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the early months of his second term.
Frustration is not only aimed at Republicans, but also at fellow Democrats who are seen as too passive in their opposition.
This growing dissatisfaction has contributed to a sharp decline in the Democratic Party’s favorability ratings, which have reached historic lows in multiple polls over the past several months.
This bodes well for Republicans going into the 2026 midterm elections.
