Capito, Whitehouse, Lee and Heinrich Strike a 417-Page Bipartisan Permitting Deal and Aim for a Lame-Duck Vote — Whitehouse Says It Will "Flood the Grid With Clean, Affordable Energy and Make Data Centers Start Paying Their Fair Share," and Mike Lee Says America Once Built the Hoover Dam "in Years, Not Decades"
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources committees — Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — announced a bipartisan deal to overhaul federal environmental review and permitting and introduced it as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. The 417-page bill would shorten review and permitting timelines, protect issued permits from being revoked absent extraordinary circumstances or legal violations, make targeted changes for transmission and other energy projects, and require data centers to pay the transmission costs associated with their operations. Negotiators said the White House was involved and that President Trump supports the deal. The deal came as the Senate left for the midterm campaign, and its sponsors said the first floor vote would come in the post-election lame-duck session in November, with changes expected through a manager's amendment based on feedback from other senators and industry. The same day, Senate Democrats blocked the House-passed Ratepayer Protection Act, a separate Republican bill on data center power costs.
“For far too long, our broken and outdated federal environmental review and permitting processes have stood in the way of energy reliability, secure jobs, modern infrastructure and economic growth. The bipartisan reforms we secured in this deal will transform our nation's ability to power our economy and fuel future growth, while continuing to protect the land, water, and wildlife we all cherish.”