Graham unveils budget plan with methane fee repeal, lease sales
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham released a budget resolution Friday calling for "unleashing American energy production through on and offshore lease sales" and repealing the Biden administration's methane fee.
Why it matters: Graham had vowed earlier this week to mark up a resolution next week to start on the Senate's two-bill reconciliation strategy while the House struggles with its own one-bill path.
Driving the news: The budget panel will meet next Wednesday and Thursday to debate and vote on the resolution.
- It gives Senate committee chairs a March 7 deadline for developing their spending-reduction and revenue-raising plans.
- Graham's "chairman's mark" calls for projected increased annual spending of $85.5 billion that will be paid for by an equivalent reduction in annual spending.
What they're saying: "This budget resolution jump-starts a process that will give President Trump's team the money they need to secure the border and deport criminals, and make America strong and more energy independent," Graham said in a statement.
Senate Republicans earlier this week introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to stop implementation of the IRA's fee on methane, a greenhouse gas that often leaks undetected into the atmosphere.
- The fee started at $900 per metric ton of methane emitted in 2024, and increased to $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond.
- House Republicans have been struggling with just how much money they'll be able to pull out of oil and gas leasing.
