Democrats’ attempt to terminate President Donald Trump’s energy emergency declaration failed Wednesday on the Senate floor.
Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) offered a joint resolution seeking to terminate the executive order, signed by Trump on his first day in office as he pursues “energy dominance” with the development of fossil fuels.
The joint resolution ultimately failed, however, in a 47-52 vote that fell along party lines.
Since day one, Trump has begun to undo many of former President Joe Biden’s climate policies. The administration is seeking to cut specific climate and energy funding under the Inflation Reduction Act that does not align with the White House’s mission. Republicans in Congress have also made moves to slash climate regulations finalized by the previous administration.
“Tim Kaine wants to impoverish Americans. President Donald Trump’s executive order brings America into the future and unleashes prosperity. Senator Kaine wants to cost the economy trillions and risk losing nearly a million jobs,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday.
Still, Democratic senators argue that these efforts by the administration will harm jobs in the green energy sector and lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
“I also want to be clear to my colleagues across the aisle that our clean energy boom that has created 400,000 jobs includes more than 215,000 jobs in Republican-led states alone. This is not about red states or blue states. This is about good-paying blue-collar jobs in all of our states,” Heinrich said Wednesday on the Senate floor.
Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, called the emergency declaration a “stunt that will fuel a real energy emergency by killing thousands of American jobs and raising energy costs on millions of American families.”
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Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) argued that the Democrats’ approach would lead to the closure of fossil fuel power plants without replacing them with a new reliable energy source. He added that the U.S. is facing a significant energy demand challenge.
“If Democrats acknowledge that we are rapidly approaching an energy crisis, they might have to actually consider the consequences of their energy plans. If we don’t take action, we are going to be facing some very serious problems in the very near future, so I’m grateful to have a president who recognizes and acknowledges the energy emergency facing our nation,” Thune said earlier this week.