Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) speaks during a press conference at the Capitol on May 20, 2025, in Washington.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Senators struck a long-awaited building permit deal Wednesday just before the chamber leaves Washington until after November’s midterm elections, beginning a race to achieve top business priorities in the coming lame-duck Congress.
Lawmakers have long prioritized streamlining the nation’s complex federal permitting laws to speed up the construction of energy projects and other critical infrastructure. Permits are a lengthy process that often takes years to complete, and the issue comes as the United States seeks to increase power capacity to power power-hungry data centers.
The bipartisan agreement signed by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Del.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-Utah) brings Congress much closer to passing the reform. It would ultimately benefit both traditional forms of fossil-based energy and clean energy sources, but both could become bottlenecks by allowing for failures.
The bill, called the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, would also require data center developers to pay for their own electricity transmission costs.
Negotiators touted the deal as a timely way to lower energy costs and build significant infrastructure.
“If we pass this bill, we will put clean, affordable energy on the grid and ensure data centers start paying their fair share,” the White House said in a statement accompanying the agreement. “We believe this is a compromise that will lead to a brighter, cleaner and more affordable future.”
“A broken and outdated federal environmental review and permitting process is hindering energy reliability, job security, modern infrastructure, and economic growth,” Capito said in a statement.
“The bipartisan reforms we secured in this agreement will transform our ability to drive our economy and foster future growth while continuing to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife we all cherish,” she said.
The bill is now expected to become the Senate’s top priority during the Nov. 3 post-election lame-duck session. At a news conference announcing the deal, Capito said negotiators were considering it as their first vote upon their return.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told CNBC earlier Wednesday that authorizing reforms and funding the government will be top priorities for senators upon their return.
“Appropriations, authorization. I think we’ll have a authorization bill ready that we can act on,” Coons said.
