House approves funding bill slashing EPA budget to 1990 levels, expanding domestic energy production
Story by Thomas Catenacci •
15h
The House passed a sweeping appropriations bill Friday morning that would substantially slash the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget and ensure that the Department of the Interior (DOI) expands energy and mineral production on public lands.
In a 213-203 vote Friday, the House approved the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, a standalone bill to fund the DOI, its subagencies, the EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The White House threatened this week to veto the legislation — which just one Democrat, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, voted for — and said Republicans were "wasting time" with it.
"I am pleased to see the House pass my Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, and I thank my colleagues for their support of this fiscally responsible legislation," said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, the chairman of the House Appropriation Committee's Interior and Environment Subcommittee.
"As Chairman of this subcommittee, I vowed to create a bill that reduces unnecessary federal spending while prioritizing the critical needs and essential functions within these agencies," he continued. "This bill does just that by reining in the Environmental Protection Agency, fighting the misguided Obama-era Waters of the United States rule, and barring an Endangered Species Act listing of the greater sage grouse."
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