The House Rules Committee voted late Tuesday to move forward with two disapproval resolutions that would curtail the Biden administration’s protections for two species, the northern long-eared bat and the lesser prairie chicken, and nullify the rules implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The disapproval resolutions would overturn rules published by the agency last November that list the two species as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act — a move Republicans decried as government overreach and would hamper agricultural and infrastructural development.
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“At every turn, the administration seeks to expand the scope of environmental laws and to give into environmental activists,” said House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK). “The end result is to force private landowners to shoulder heavier burdens and to tie up development projects with more red tape.”
In a party-line vote, the committee voted to proceed with the rule governing consideration of the two measures brought up under the Congressional Review Act, slating the bills for a floor vote. The timing of the floor vote has yet to be determined as lawmakers prepare for their six-week August recess.
Several Democrats scorned GOP lawmakers for picking a legislative fight with the agency's rules before lawmakers leave for the August recess. The committee’s highest-ranking Democrat, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), characterized the Republican efforts to overturn the protections as a “problem of priorities,” stressing the federal government could be facing a shutdown if Congress doesn’t pass all 12 spending bills by Sept. 30, the deadline for when the government is slated to run out of funding.
"We are two months away from the end of the fiscal year and a possible government shutdown, and we’re talking about the lesser prairie-chicken and northern long-eared bat. Really?" McGovern, who earlier acknowledged there should be efforts enacted to protect the species, said.
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the lead Republication on the House Natural Resources Committee, deemed the "endangered" listing of the lesser prairie chicken as unnecessary and underlined the work of private, voluntary conservation efforts to protect the animal, which he argues grew the population from less than 20,000 birds in 2013 to more than 35,000 in 2020. However, a 2022 study done by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies that tracked the animal's total population sizes found that they sporadically changed year to year, with more than 30,000 lesser prairie chickens estimated in 2012 and less than 27,000 in 2022.
Westerman also added that Democratic claims of human activity being the main threat to the existence of the northern long-eared bat were misguided and that the main threat to the animal was white-nose syndrome, an invasive wildlife disease that's responsible for killing millions of bats across North America.
A particular GOP member, however, had no problem with the elimination of the species.
"I see the bald eagle; that makes sense. I see the bears; that makes sense. But long-eared bats? I hope the white-nose syndrome wipes all of them out," said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). "We won't have it to worry about. ... Think of the tax revenue." Westerman later distanced himself from Norman's comments, stating that he "rejects the notion that Republicans don't care about the northern long-eared bat or the lesser prairie chicken."
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), the Natural Resources Committee's ranking member, called the GOP's opposition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules a "bizarre vendetta" and "pointless political exercise," pointing to the White House's veto threats if the measures were to land on President Joe Biden's desk. The White House issued statements of administration policy shortly after both resolutions passed the Senate.
Grijalva pushed against Republican arguments that the agency's policies would impede the development of infrastructure and instead asserted that the overturn of these rules would threaten collaboration efforts between communities and urban planners to help protect the species while furthering projects.
The Senate version of the resolution passed the upper chamber in May, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) joining Republicans to roll back protections for both animals and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) also voting to disapprove of the long-eared bat protections.
The two measures are expected to pass the Republican-held House, setting up a veto from Biden if the bill makes its way to the White House.
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The push from Republicans comes as the group looks to reform the Endangered Species Act, a 1973 law aimed at protecting and conserving species at risk of extinction. House Republicans formed a working group to address the issue last Tuesday, arguing the law is outdated and stymies development.
Democrats and environmental groups, however, strongly opposed GOP efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act amid what environmentalists have termed an extinction crisis. The party has cheered the Biden administration for restoring the protections weakened by President Donald Trump.