Biden’s green energy agenda suffers scores of Democratic defectors

Waves of congressional Democrats have broken from President Biden this year over the use of federal regulations to enact his climate change agenda.

Dozens of Democrats have voted more than once in recent months to buck Mr. Biden on Republican-led measures. Several of the Democrats who have sided repeatedly with Republicans on the climate change issue face competitive reelection races next year, according to a Washington Times analysis.

Two Democrats have opposed virtually every one of Mr. Biden’s green energy policies when it came time to vote: Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Rep. Jared Golden of Maine.

Mr. Golden has cast at least 11 votes, including those to override Mr. Biden’s vetoes, against the president’s green energy regulations. Mr. Manchin has voted eight times against Mr. Biden’s policies.

Four other Democrats also have rebuffed Mr. Biden on several occasions.

Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas have each defected seven times, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington six times, and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana three times.

All four House Democrats were the lone members of their party to support House Republicans’ marquee package, known as the Lower Energy Costs Act.

The man in charge of getting Senate Democrats elected played down the rebellion. He said lawmakers from swing states take positions that voters back home would welcome.

“They’re voting the way they think is best for their state,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Gary C. Peters, Michigan Democrat, told The Washington Times. “It’s always good to represent the people in your state accurately.”

His counterpart, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, Montana Republican, argued that a few votes can’t reverse the Democrats’ records.

“You’re seeing a few foxhole conversions as we approach the ’24 election,” Mr. Daines told The Times. “Voters back home, they hold these senators accountable for their consistent records voting against common-sense energy policy. We’ve seen some major flip-flops as of late.”

The votes to dismantle Mr. Biden’s energy and environmental agenda included nixing:

• A Labor Department rule allowing 401(k) managers to engage in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing without clients’ knowledge.

• The suspension of solar panel tariffs on Southeast Asian countries that Chinese manufacturers use to skirt U.S. tariffs.

• Federal environmental protections over small waterways such as streams and wetlands.

• Stringent emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks and semitrailers.

• Protections for endangered and threatened species that critics said were overly broad.

Mr. Manchin would be one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in 2024. He hasn’t yet said whether he will seek reelection.

“I’m voting for energy security for our country. My state is an energy producer and has been an energy producer for over 100 years,” Mr. Manchin told The Times. “But the bottom line is the country needs security. The grid needs reliability. We all need to work together to make sure it’s an all-above energy policy.”

As chair of the Senate Energy Committee, Mr. Manchin has increasingly placed Mr. Biden’s climate change agenda in his crosshairs. He tanked a top Biden nominee to the Department of Energy over the agency’s proposed efficiency regulations on gas stoves, vowed to oppose all future Environmental Protection Agency nominees over the president’s “radical climate agenda” and threatened to support the repeal of Democrats’ tax-and-climate spending law known as the Inflation Reduction Act that he helped write.

Mr. Manchin was also the lone Democrat to vote against the confirmation of Carl Bernstein to become chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, largely because of Mr. Bernstein’s views on energy. Mr. Bernstein was confirmed by a vote of 50-49.

“I did not vote for Mr. Bernstein because we must protect America’s economic stability and energy security from radical policies such as the Green New Deal,” Mr. Manchin said in a statement.

The voting record of Mr. Golden, who represents a competitive swing district, closely aligns with Mr. Manchin’s. In a statement to The Times, Mr. Golden expressed concern that the president’s clean energy initiatives could jeopardize U.S. energy security and access to affordable energy. He said he desires more “realistic policies.”

“I am supportive of an all-of-the-above energy approach with a top focus on affordability for working-class communities,” Mr. Golden said. “I support realistic policies that work for people living in places like rural Maine. I also believe we need to be cognizant of the national security concerns at play when we are discussing anything that has to do with energy.”

Mr. Tester, who is seeking a fourth term, is another at-risk Senate Democrat. The burly farmer has voted at least three times to buck Mr. Biden’s green energy agenda, including on the rules for ESG 401(k) investing, Chinese solar tariffs and waterway protections.

“I approach [climate change] from probably a different angle than [Mr. Biden] does,” Mr. Tester told The Times. “I’m less of a regulatory person and more for making investments. Let the private sector get out there and get the work done so that capitalism can work.”

In the House, moderate Democrats from swing districts such as Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez have repeatedly bucked Mr. Biden.

Their offices did not respond to requests for comment.

In total, dozens of Democrats in Congress have voted against Mr. Biden’s climate agenda. Most of these Democrats cast three votes against the president on one issue: new regulations on gas stoves.

In the House, an amendment to prohibit gas stove regulations or bans attracted the most defectors, with 29 Democrats breaking ranks. The vote added the measure to Republicans’ broader Lower Energy Costs Act. 

The same number broke ranks to support Republican bills to block proposed Energy Department efficiency rules that would render at least half of gas stove models noncompliant and to prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from imposing any ban on these appliances.

Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez supported House Republicans’ energy package and voted in favor of the three votes to safeguard gas stoves. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez also voted to reimpose the Chinese solar tariffs and to override Mr. Biden’s veto of the measure. Mr. Cuellar and Mr. Gonzalez voted to curb Mr. Biden’s federal protections over small waterways and stringent emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks and semitrailers.

The Senate’s measure to reimpose Chinese solar tariffs drew the most bipartisan support with nine Democrats crossing party lines.

None of the energy and environmental measures approved in Congress became law because of presidential vetoes or lack of Senate support, leaving Mr. Biden’s regulatory climate agenda intact.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania is a Republican outlier on Mr. Biden’s green energy policies.

The co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus has bucked his party to support Mr. Biden at least four times this year, more than any other Republican. He was the lone Republican to vote against the House Republicans’ Lower Energy Costs Act.