House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman said he may examine royalties for hardrock mining on federal lands to generate revenue for the GOP's big energy and tax push, Nick writes.

Why it matters: Miners extracting energy transition metals like copper, nickel or cobalt operate under a law that's more than 150 years old and don't get charged a federal royalty — unlike coal, oil and gas.

• The longstanding effort to create one has been stuck in limbo for years amid industry opposition.

Driving the news: Westerman isn't endorsing the idea quite yet, but he brought it up as a possible way to generate revenue in reconciliation.

• "I'm not going to come out today and say, 'Yeah, we should be charging royalty fees on minerals and elements coming off of federal lands.' But there may be something there," he told reporters during a lengthy conversation yesterday off the House floor.
• More broadly, he listed expanding federal lands mining, oil and gas leasing and forestry as the big opportunities for his committee in reconciliation.

The big picture: Democrats and environmental groups have tried for a long time to overhaul the 1872 General Mining Law.

• They tried a few years ago to create a hardrock mining royalty in their own reconciliation bill but were stymied by opposition from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
• Then the Biden administration issued a report in 2023 calling for a leasing system and a royalty as high as 8%, drawing instant pushback from the mining industry.

For those reasons, Westerman's comments should be taken with a grain of salt in the early days of this reconciliation push.

• Still, any movement on the issue would be significant, given the failure of congressional reform efforts.
• "I think it sounds like he's fishing," Sen. John Hickenlooper told Nick. "And he's a good fisherman."

Zoom in: Westerman also said Republicans will likely move to reverse the Biden administration's offshore drilling ban via reconciliation if President-elect Trump can't do it himself.

• "It doesn't really seem to be something that the Trump administration can undo through executive order" or that Hill Republicans can roll back via the Congressional Review Act, he said.
• But, he added, "there's definitely a budget nexus to that."

What we're watching: Westerman is taking on a role in the GOP reconciliation push that goes beyond Natural Resources.

• He said he's been asked to do member education and participate in the Republican Study Committee's efforts to coordinate the legislation among committees.
• And he remains a top GOP negotiator on permitting and energy issues.
• Westerman said he's had conversations with Senate Democrats already about restarting talks on a permitting bill.

Sen. Martin Heinrich accused Sen. Mike Lee of breaching ENR "protocol and precedent" by announcing a confirmation hearing next week for Interior nominee Doug Burgum, Daniel writes.

Why it matters: The rift over the first ENR hearing is an early sign of trouble between the two energy committee leaders after Heinrich told Axios last month that he expected a "very cordial" relationship with Lee.

Driving the news: The committee is still waiting for "basic information" from Burgum, including a completed financial disclosure form, an FBI background check, approval from the agency's ethics office, and responses to a standard questionnaire, Heinrich said.

• Lee's office, which late yesterday noticed Burgum's hearing for Tuesday at 10am ET, didn't respond to requests for comment.

What he's saying: "I am extremely disappointed that Chairman Lee has scheduled the first Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing over my objection," Heinrich said in a statement today.

• Committee rules around noticing public hearings a week in advance have been followed "over decades by chairs of both parties," Heinrich said.

Context: The spat comes as Senate Democrats seek to delay Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearing, citing similar complaints of uncompleted background checks and forms, Axios Hill Leaders scooped yesterday.

What's next: We're watching for any hearing notice for Trump's DOE nominee, Chris Wright, who we told you is expected to come before ENR on Jan. 15.

✈️ 1. Longer runway: The airline industry and biofuel companies pressed Hill Republican leaders for improvements to tax incentives for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in budget reconciliation talks.

• The SAF credit should be extended at least 10 years with a floor price of $1.25 per gallon of the fuel to attract more investment, the groups wrote.

👀 2. More ANWR: The Interior Department said it got no bids in the second lease sale required by Congress in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

• Acting deputy secretary Laura Daniel-Davis said the lack of interest reflects that "there are some places too special and sacred to put at risk with oil and gas drilling." But it'll add more fuel to the congressional ANWR fire.

🛢️ 3. Liberty or death: The Interior Department also rejected an extension of leases for an Arctic offshore oil drilling project opposed by environmental groups.

• The first Trump administration had approved Hilcorp Alaska's Liberty project, but it was struck down in court.

📝 4. ICYMI: The Treasury Department's final rules for tech-neutral energy tax credits drew praise from renewable developers and criticism from fuel cell companies.