
Amodei in February 2024. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Mark Amodei plans to press the Trump administration and Republican colleagues to keep Biden-era funding that benefits Nevada projects.
Why it matters: Amodei, a moderate GOP voice on IRA repeal, is returning to the Natural Resources Committee to have a greater say on public lands and mining issues.
- He was one of 18 House Republicans who signed a letter in August warning Speaker Mike Johnson against a wholesale IRA repeal.
Context: Amodei's district is home to several projects backed by the DOE Loan Programs Office that went dormant under Trump 1.0 and that Republicans have urged to immediately freeze.
- The Biden administration finalized a $2.26 billion loan to the Thacker Pass lithium project and issued a $2 billion conditional commitment to Redwood Materials for a battery materials campus.
What he's saying: Trump's government-efficiency efforts will likely cut the flow of federal funding "from a 36-inch pipe to a 12-inch pipe," Amodei said.
- If Nevada is targeted for any proposed cuts to a project or company, "we're talking with the company, talking with the agency under the Trump administration, to go: 'What are we doing? Why are we doing it?'" he said.
Zoom in: He said he plans to reintroduce as soon as this week his legislation to address the Rosemont decision that limited where mining companies can operate.
- The U.S. Forest Service–focused ruling could be wielded by antimining groups against mine on any kind of public land, he said.
- "We're not gonna let that stand out there as a bat that's sitting in the bat rack, real handy for somebody to take out and go try to hit a home run or hit you over the head," he said.
- The bill passed the House in May (with nine Democrats voting in favor) but was never brought up in the Senate.
Amodei also reintroduced a bill last week to strip presidential authority to unilaterally designate national monuments and give that authority to Congress.
The bottom line: "We're approaching it on a case-by-case basis," Amodei said. "If your people are doing good stuff, and there's government dollars in it, but they're worth it, then obviously we're going to advocate for it."
