House Passes Bill Blocking Future Presidents From Banning Oil Drilling Without Congress’ Approval
The Republican-controlled House has passed legislation to block future presidents from banning oil and gas drilling without congressional approval — delivering yet another major policy victory for President Donald J. Trump as he continues restoring American energy dominance in his second term.
The “Protecting American Energy Production Act” passed 226 to 188, with every Republican voting in favor and 118 Democrats opposing the measure. The bill prohibits any president from issuing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) unless Congress explicitly authorizes such a ban.
The legislation responds directly to former President Joe Biden’s sweeping restrictions on domestic energy, including his move in the final weeks of his administration to ban new drilling across 625 million acres of coastal and offshore land.
Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who introduced the bill, said the goal was to prevent federal overreach and shield American workers from the anti-energy policies pushed during the Biden era.
“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 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 added.
President Trump has made clear since the campaign trail that his “drill, baby, drill” energy strategy is central to rebuilding U.S. manufacturing, lowering consumer costs, strengthening national security, and restoring American economic self-sufficiency.
As part of this effort, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum launched internal investigations into federal agencies that had adopted climate mandates, regulatory hurdles, or leasing bans that “burden” U.S. energy development. Those reviews are now systematically unwinding the Biden-era restrictions.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson emphasized this week that Democrats are responsible for the ongoing government shutdown and the strain facing working families, even as President Trump’s administration works to minimize the damage.
“Day 27 means it’s almost been a full month since the Democrats shut down the government,” Johnson said Monday. “And as we near the end of this month, the pain being felt by so many hard-working people around this country is very real and it gets worse with each passing day.”
He noted that 1.4 million federal workers have already missed paychecks, including air traffic controllers, Border Patrol, military service members, and TSA agents.
“The Trump Administration has done everything possible to bend over backwards to try to find sources of funding within the federal government to be able to cover the bases, but it is getting more and more challenging with each day,” Johnson said, adding that Republicans have voted more than a dozen times to reopen the government, but Democrats continue blocking those efforts.
“The Democrats are the ones voting repeatedly to shut down the government,” Johnson declared.
Johnson also highlighted the extreme conditions Democrats are placing on negotiations — including demands for taxpayer-funded health benefits for illegal immigrants, funding for left-leaning media groups, and cuts to rural hospitals.
“We cannot, we will not do those things,” Johnson concluded. “And they know that very well.”
With House Republicans united behind American workers and domestic industry, the Protecting American Energy Production Act marks a decisive step toward long-term U.S. energy independence — and a clear repudiation of the climate-driven regulatory agenda of the previous administration.