Senate EPA-Interior spending bill reverses Trump cuts
Illustration: Aïda Amer / Axios
A Senate panel approved an Interior-EPA funding bill on Thursday that aims to reverse many of the deepest cuts that the White House has proposed to environmental and public lands programs.
Why it matters: The Senate Appropriations Committee's bipartisan tone came two days after the House spending panel advanced its own Interior-EPA measure along party lines.
- It sets up a conference showdown with the House — assuming that the bill isn't lumped into a CR.
Driving the news: The committee voted 26–2 to send the $38.6 billion bill to the floor, with Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican John Kennedy voting against it.
- The bill includes $15.1 billion for Interior, $300 million above the House version and more than $2 billion above what President Trump requested.
- It has $8.6 billion in EPA funding — $1.6 billion above the House level and $4.5 billion more than what Trump sought.
- The bill maintains EPA's state revolving funds at fiscal year 2025 levels and adequately funds agency staff, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Interior-EPA appropriations panel chair.
Republicans closely worked with Democrats and approached EPA "thoughtfully and very carefully," Murkowski said.
- Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito, also a member of Appropriations, had expressed reservations to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin about cutting state water funding.
- Meanwhile, the Interior funding would "strike a balance between energy production, conservation and recreation," Murkowski said.
The other side: The approach won votes from Democrats who otherwise bashed the White House.
- Sen. Jeff Merkley, Interior-EPA's top Democrat, said the bill includes language that would require public lands agencies to maintain staffing levels large enough to carry out their missions.
- Unlike the House version, the Senate bill wouldn't rename the Kennedy Center's opera house after First Lady Melania Trump.
But the committee rejected, 14–15, an amendment from Sen. Martin Heinrich to maintain National Park Service staffing at September 2020 levels.
- The Park Service has lost nearly one-quarter of its staff since the Trump administration took office.
Between the lines: The bipartisanship isn't a surprise, given that Murkowski and Appropriations Chair Susan Collins have often stood up to Trump.
- But such kumbaya markups may not build enough goodwill to overcome Democratic anger over White House rescission requests and the GOP's push for more reconciliation bills.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new budget numbers from the Appropriations Committee.
