Trump rallies Republicans against Biden energy policies, but sidesteps the massive climate law

Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump delivered a campaign-style energy address during a day of meetings with congressional Republicans on Thursday, hitting on trademark themes like “drill baby drill” and pledging to reverse Biden administration policies he said hamper fossil fuel development and favor electric vehicles.

More than half a dozen lawmakers who spoke to POLITICO and described the pair of meetings — first with the House GOP and then with Senate Republicans — said Trump’s remarks were light on policy details, and he did not directly address his interest in repealing the Inflation Reduction Act. He also did not indicate which of its sprawling clean energy tax incentives Republicans should target for repeal if the GOP wins control of the White House and Congress in November’s election.

“He spent a third of his time talking about energy — in the context that energy is an inflation multiplier, that energy drives inflation,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.). “And he spoke about how Joe Biden has weaponized the federal government against American energy.”

Trump also criticized government mandates toward the purchase of electric vehicles during Thursday’s address to GOP senators, echoing an often-repeated line on the campaign trail.

Some Republicans who attended the meetings said it was smart for Trump to stick to a high-level vision for his potential second term, rather than identifying specific moves he’d make to reverse Biden’s climate agenda that could give fodder to Democratic attacks while confusing voters.

“There is no point in getting too deep into the weeds until we win,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee who is close to Trump, said ahead of the meeting. “And the only way to win is to talk about this in reasonable terms. Because we could scare voters off with too big a picture.”

But Democrats have focused their messaging in recent days on highlighting Republicans’ plans to repeal parts of the IRA next year, an effort to draw a sharp contrast between President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda and Trump’s backing of the oil and gas industry.

“It’s one of their stated goals, which means the insulin cap goes away, the Medicare negotiation goes away and all the tax credits to combat climate change goes away,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who is facing a tough reelection race. “It’s going to be a big issue for me to fight against.”

Democrats are also aiming to underscore the potential threats that repeal could have on the wave of investments that largely favor Republican states and districts.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in remarks before environmental activists on Wednesday, said if the GOP wins full control of the White House and Congress, he expected Republicans to make good on the pledge to target the IRA as they look to put together a package of conservative policy priorities that could pass under budget reconciliation.

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), who has made energy issues central to his Senate run, said Thursday that Schumer’s remarks playing up Republicans’ attempts to repeal the IRA through reconciliation represented “fear mongering,” adding that discussion is premature.

House Speaker Mike Johnson met with Republican senators Wednesday to begin laying the groundwork for the types of policies the GOP would prioritize under reconciliation — the same complex process Democrats used to pass the IRA under a simple-majority vote.

“We are and should be making preparations for a reconciliation package,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “We are looking at things — IRA and other things — we’d like to redo or undo.”

Republicans have discussed targeting the repeal of IRA clean energy and electric vehicle subsidies, among other options, to offset the costs from a possible renewal of corporate tax cuts under a 2017 law passed during the Trump administration that are set to expire next year.

But those plans — and the process of identifying specific IRA policies that would make the cut under the strict rules governing reconciliation — are still in the early stages, Republicans underscored.

“We have to win first,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “There is a lot of details that we got to be able to work through and none of those are worked through now.”

Still, Democrats, who have ramped up their rhetoric against the oil and gas industry, are already raising alarm about the damage to the economy from repealing even parts of the IRA would cause, noting that only a fraction of spending from the climate law is out the door.

“I take it very seriously they will go into the Inflation Reduction Act and stop every aspect of it they possibly can that has to do with climate change,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “The sad truth is a lot of it is still vulnerable. Some of it is locked in. But our type of government is vulnerable to that kind of pendulum swinging.”

A POLITICO analysis earlier this year of federal spending on infrastructure and energy under the IRA and three other laws found that only a small portion has been spent to date.

In fact, less than 17 percent of the $1.1 trillion those laws provided for direct investments on climate, energy and infrastructure has been spent as of April, nearly two years after Biden signed the last of the statutes.