(Photo from Congressman Mike Ezell)
- The resolution rolls back a Biden era BOEM rule on new oil and gas leaseholders in the Gulf of America.
President Donald Trump has signed S.J. Res. 11, a joint congressional resolution aimed at overturning the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) rule put in place by the Biden Administration which opponents said placed a new burden on American energy production on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of America.
In September 2024, the Biden Administration published a rule that required all new oil and gas leaseholders on the outer continental shelf to submit an archaeological report to the BOEM before drilling or laying pipelines. The previous practice only required such a report when there was a “reason to believe” that an archaeological resource may be present.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (R) sponsored the resolution to undo the Biden era rule, saying in a floor speech “we know what’s there.”
“We’ve surveyed the entire Gulf of America in the 87 years since we started drilling there. We have surveyed 311,652 square nautical miles—the surface area of Texas and California put together. That’s how we found 4,000 shipwrecks, and it’s cost hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars,” Senator Kennedy said, adding, ““Well, in September 2024, the Department of Interior—in a midnight regulation in an effort to try to further hurt fossil fuels—passed a new rule, and they said, ‘Look, we know we’ve surveyed the entire Gulf… but every time you drill a new well, we want you to survey again.’ Why? I mean, what’s the benefit?”
The resolution, which passed largely down party lines in both chambers, expressed congressional disapproval of the Biden era rule and stated that the “rule shall have no force or effect.”
Kennedy’s resolution was cosponsored by Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and backed by Congressman Mike Ezell (R), who presented the measure on the House floor.
“This is a great day for American energy independence and for the hardworking men and women who power our nation,” Ezell said on the event of President Trump signing the measure. “The Biden administration’s misguided rule was a disaster for our energy producers, driving up costs for families and making us more reliant on foreign adversaries. By overturning this rule, we are unleashing American energy and ensuring a stronger, more secure future.”
Congressman Ezell went on to say that Mississippi’s energy workers and consumers deserve policies that support economic growth and energy security—not unnecessary government overreach.
“I thank President Trump for his strong leadership in signing this legislation, and reaffirming our commitment to affordable and reliable American energy,” Ezell said.
Senator Hyde-Smith agreed, saying in a statement that President Trump promised to restore America’s energy might and by signing the resolution of disapproval he helps Congress reset policy in a way that encourages offshore oil and gas production.
“This action also has greater staying power, as any future administration would find it more difficult to reinstate the misguided regulations imposed during the Biden years,” Hyde-Smith said.
Frank Corder
