Schumer doesn’t comment on Biden’s oil purchase after criticizing Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn’t criticize President Biden’s Department of Energy for a massive oil purchase to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) despite slamming former President Trump in 2020 for attempting to include a similar purchase in a stimulus package.
The DOE announced a purchase of 4.65 million barrels of oil Monday to replenish the SPR, which has been tapped by the Biden administration, to assist with high gas prices. The department bought the oil for an average price of $77.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm expressed, “From the beginning, this administration has put the economic and energy security of the American people first. This milestone is a proof point that when the Biden-Harris administration makes and implements a plan, we deliver for the American people.”
Granholm also added, “As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine, and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world’s largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
There was little response to the oil purchase, which was not heavily advertised by the president or the White House. For Democratic and Republican lawmakers, it went largely undetected as the investigation into the failures that led to the attempted assassination of Trump earlier this month attracted most of their attention.
Two key pieces of legislation related to online safety for minors and a potential expansion to the child tax credit were slated for votes during the week, drawing additional attention.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Trump’s administration sought to include $3 billion for purchasing oil to replenish the SPR at a low price in the $2 trillion pandemic stimulus package. Oil was roughly $30 per barrel in March 2020 as prices trended sharply downward. The Trump administration’s proposal was ultimately excluded from the final draft of the legislation following significant pushback from Democrats.
Chuck Schumer referred to the Trump administration’s request as a “$3 billion bailout for big oil,” as reported by Roll Call at the time.
An oil barrel is pictured near the Kokolik River, which winds through the National Petroleum Reserve in northern Alaska.
