Committee Republicans’ Final Markup of 2025 Caps Off a Year of Doing Nothing to Help the American People
Calls Out Republicans for Laundry List of Failures and Prioritizing Handouts for Billionaire Polluters
Washington, D.C. – Today, during the final markup of 2025, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Huffman called out Republicans for doing nothing over the past year but push handouts for billionaire polluters, roll over for the Trump administration, and utterly fail to improve the state of our natural resources or the lives of the American people.
Ranking Member Huffman speaks during committee markup. (December 17, 2025)
“This year has been marked by some of the most egregious abuses of power in the entire history of our nation. It is a good thing that our democracy has three co-equal branches of government so that we can hold those power abuses accountable and put a stop to gross overreaches – that is if things were working. But unfortunately, this Republican majority doesn't seem to understand Article I has no interest in being an independent branch of government and hasn't done a single thing to rein in our wannabe king. They sure as heck don't do anything to lower costs either for the American people or to make their lives better,” Ranking Member Huffman said during the markup.
“We hope that you will have a New Year's resolution that you will decide to work with Democrats who have been here all along, ready to partner with you in good faith to actually solve problems. There are a lot of real problems facing our constituents in the country right now. This committee could be working on those things. I hope you will take this opportunity to change course and do it, because it is just the right thing to do."
In their final committee meeting of 2025, Republicans marked up two destructive bills – H.R. 1897, the “ESA Amendments Act of 2025” and H.R. 5103, the “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act.”
- H.R. 1897 is the latest attempt by Republicans to bundle a wish list of Endangered Species Act giveaways to special interest groups. This bill would undermine the clear purposes of the ESA to prevent extinction and recover species, putting additional species at risk of disappearing. This bill will cause even more legal uncertainty in the permitting process, throwing the system into chaos and leading to even more delays.
- H.R. 5103 is part of a broad Republican campaign against D.C. residents’ right to self-governance and fair, equal treatment. The bill is about advancing the federal, militarized takeover of the district, not helping the National Park Service manage and maintain parks, memorials, and other federal properties in the city.
Some of Committee Republicans’
Many Failures in 2025
Neglecting Their Duty to Stop Trump’s Abuses of Power
- Republicans stayed silent as Trump and Elon Musk tore through the government, shuttering services, harvesting Americans’ private data, and firing thousands of public servants and scientists.
- They turned a blind eye when Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the White House to build a gilded ballroom.
- The GOP refused to hold Trump accountable for trying to erase mentions of slavery, Indigenous Peoples, and climate change from our National Parks.
- They did nothing to stop Trump when he sicced his border patrol agents on wildland firefighters actively battling a fire in Washington State.
- Committee Republicans refused to investigate Trump’s unprecedented and illegal late-night firing of inspectors generalfrom various federal agencies, a move that was outlined in Trump’s Project 2025.
- They let Trump peddle lies about California’s water supply and pointlessly dump billions of gallons of water – hurting farmers and putting local communities at risk.
Enabling Trump’s War on Affordable, Clean Energy
- On day one, Trump unleashed a slew of executive orders to cancel clean, affordable energy and reverse the progress Democrats made to help American communities deal with extreme weather and climate impacts – and the GOP did nothing to stop it.
- Republicans cheered as Trump opened our coasts to more drilling while canceling offshore wind development – a major job creator.
- They took it even further with their own policies, including bills to dismantle bedrock environmental laws like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act.
- Republicans promoted Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s memo that forces all wind and solar energy projects on federal lands to receive personal approval from him after making it through 69 steps – virtually freezing them indefinitely and locking Americans out of lower energy bills and countless job opportunities.
Using Public Lands as a Bargaining Chip for Billionaire Tax Breaks
- This summer, Committee Republicans tried – and failed – to sell off America’s public lands to pay for billionaire tax breaks in their One Big Ugly Bill.
Stopping Committee Work Entirely
- Republicans brought the committee’s work to a screeching halt for the longest shutdown in American history because they didn’t want to negotiate with Democrats to save affordable health care.
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