WASHINGTON -- For the second time this month, House Republicans have advanced a measure to restrict presidential use of the nation's emergency oil stockpile -- a proposal that has already drawn a White House veto threat.
A GOP bill approved Friday would require the government to offset any non-emergency withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with new drilling on public lands and oceans.
Republicans accuse President Joe Biden of abusing the reserve for political reasons to keep gas prices low, while Biden says tapping the reserve was needed last year in response to a ban on Russian oil imports after the invasion of Ukraine.
Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the strategic reserve over several months, bringing the stockpile to its lowest level since the 1980s. The administration said last month that it will start to replenish the reserve now that oil prices have gone down.
The bill was approved, 221-205, on a near party-line vote. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the sole Democrat to join unanimous Republicans in supporting the bill.
The measure heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it is expected to languish.
Even before the vote, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked the latest GOP proposal, which follows a bill approved two weeks ago that would prohibit the Energy Department from selling oil from the strategic reserve to companies owned or influenced by the Chinese Communist Party.
"House Republicans will vote to raise gas prices on American families ... and help Putin's war aims by interfering with our ability to release oil," Jean-Pierre said Monday, referring to the current GOP bill.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, appearing with Jean-Pierre at the White House, said the bill would make it "harder to offer Americans relief in the future" from oil disruptions.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and sponsored the GOP bill, accused Granholm and the White House of misleading the public.
"Republicans want durable, long-lasting relief at the pump. The best way to do this is by unleashing American energy," which her legislation helps accomplish, McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash, said.
The heated rhetoric is part of a larger fight over oil drilling and climate change.
Biden campaigned on pledges to end new drilling on public lands, and climate activists have pushed him to move faster to shut down oil leasing. Fossil fuels extracted from public lands account for about 20% of energy-related U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making them a prime target for emissions reductions.
"Oil drilling poses an unacceptable risk for our wildlife, wild places and waterways," said Lisa Frank of Environment America, an advocacy group. "At a time when we should be moving away from this destructive, dangerous practice, this bill doubles down on the outmoded energy of the past."
Conservative and industry groups support the bill.
"We can continue making the Strategic Petroleum Reserve the nation's sole response to future disruptions, or we can also utilize more of the vast oil supplies sitting beneath the lands and offshore areas currently kept off limits by the president," the Competitive Enterprise Institute and other conservative groups said in a letter to Congress.
The Treasury Department estimates that release of oil from the emergency stockpile lowered prices at the pump by up to 40 cents per gallon. Gasoline prices averaged about $3.50 per gallon Friday, down from just over $5 per gallon at their peak in June, according to the AAA auto club.
Still, gas prices are up more than 30 cents from a month ago and are higher than when Biden took office in January 2021.
FILE - Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., leaves the Speaker's office to walk to the House chamber, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, to attend the 14th vote for speaker of the House, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, left, listens as White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, right, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
FILE - An undated photo provided by the Department of Energy shows crude oil pipes at the Bryan Mound site near Freeport, Texas. For the second time this month, House Republicans are seeking to restrict presidential use of the nation’s emergency oil stockpile — a proposal that has already drawn a White House veto threat. (Department of Energy via AP, File)