Senate advances bipartisan energy permitting overhaul with 73-25 procedural vote

The procedural vote

On Monday, 9 November 2026, the Senate voted 73-25 to proceed to consideration of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), a permitting overhaul meant to speed federal approvals for pipelines, power lines and other major energy projects. Nearly all Senate Republicans and more than a dozen Democrats backed the motion. The deal was negotiated over the past Congress by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate energy and environment committees, and the bill is numbered S. 5653.

Voted to proceed73

Voted against25

Voted to proceed

73 votes

Voted against

25 votes

Data from the article text

The vote opens floor debate rather than deciding final passage, and negotiators have promised a "healthy amendment process" before a final vote. Martin Heinrich, the Democratic ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, tied the bill to household costs in his remarks on Monday.

“We don't have to wait for the new Congress to start lowering costs. We can do that today.”

Democrats and tribes press objections

Some Democrats opposed moving the bill forward over provisions on tribal sovereignty and changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said the bill has never had a public hearing in either chamber and that robust consideration should be a priority in the new Congress. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) voted to proceed but said she would not support final passage unless language relevant to tribal nations is removed, according to her spokesperson, Lauren Wodarski. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, expected to be speaker in the new Congress, said the bill falls short in several areas, including tribal sovereignty protections. Indigenous groups held a press conference on Friday, 6 November, urging senators to reject the bill because it would weaken the federal government's legal duty to consult tribes on projects that affect them. Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians, called the bill a threat in stark terms.

“This is such an existential threat to Indian country.”

Environmental groups and the weekend revisions

The bill's authors released an amended version over the weekend that addressed some of its biggest points of contention and dialed back some provisions to win power sector support. Earthjustice, the Sierra Club and the ACLU have come out against the bill, arguing it would significantly weaken environmental laws including NEPA. Protesters rallied on Friday outside the building of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer over concerns that the bill could boost data center construction. On Sunday, 8 November, President Donald Trump urged his social media followers to contact their senators, and the White House supports the measure. Business groups, energy developers, labor unions and the Edison Electric Institute, the largest US utility lobbying group, are also backing it.

What the bill would change

The sweeping bill is 494 pages according to Axios and The New York Times, though the Guardian put its length at 417 pages. It would limit the duration of lawsuits and the scope and length of reviews under the Clean Water Act and NEPA, and it would protect permits issued before its passage. It would also expand federal authority to site and approve certain large interstate transmission projects and oversee utility planning. The bill includes provisions aimed at ensuring data centers pay for needed grid upgrades, which Democratic co-authors have touted as part of a pro-climate package.

What comes next

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), one of the bill's authors, told reporters before the vote that the amendment process would be very healthy. He also said the bill was the floor, not the ceiling, of climate and environmental aspirations.

“It's a bird in the hand. We'd be fools not to take it.”

Whitehouse argued there is no guarantee Congress would find another compromise able to pass the Senate. Democrats elected in the midterms will not take their seats until January, so supporters still have time to push the bill through the Senate, and technically it could still pass the House before the new Congress convenes.