The Senate inched closer to passing legislation Wednesday that would expand the Federal Trade Commission’s powers and create a subunit to investigate whether Big Oil is bilking drivers at the pump.
The bill advanced in a party-line vote in the Senate Commerce Committee following Republicans and Democrats trading barbs over who is to blame for skyrocketing energy costs.
But the proposal is tantamount to a messaging bill. Democrats lack the 60 votes needed in the evenly split chamber to overcome Republican opposition.
Instead, Democratic leaders hope to capitalize on the opportunity by painting Republicans as siding with large oil corporations over consumers reeling from gas prices, as Democrats and the Biden administration struggle with voter sentiment on inflation heading into the midterms.
The national average held steady Wednesday at $4.60 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s 48 cents more than a month ago and $1.56 higher than one year ago.
A final vote will likely occur after the Senate returns from Memorial Day recess, in the second week of June. The House narrowly approved its version of a gas price gouging bill last week largely along party lines.
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In addition to the bill not being able to pass, it’s unclear whether Democrats will present a unified front and if moderates like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia will support it.
The legislation was uncomfortable for moderate House Democrats or those representing energy-rich states. Four ultimately sided with Republicans to oppose it.
During committee debate Wednesday, senators exchanged partisan attacks as the panel’s chairwoman, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, rejected GOP amendments targeting the Biden administration’s energy and climate policies that Democrats said were not within their committee’s jurisdiction.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the panel’s ranking Republican, labeled the effort to target oil companies for alleged gouging as theater because of its inability to become law.
“With gas prices hitting record highs, instead of reckoning with how the president’s own anti-domestic energy policies are contributing to this crisis, the president is looking for a scapegoat. This bill would do just that,” he said.
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who hails from the energy-producing state of Alaska, chastised his Democratic colleagues for supporting “far-left environmental groups” and “coastal elites” over the energy industry.
Sen. Brian Schatz was quick to interject.
“Dan Sullivan is my friend, and I would just like him to dial down the rhetoric a little bit,” the Hawaii Democrat said. “This committee has a tradition of bipartisanship and friendship.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly included Sen. Jon Tester of Montana among the potential Democratic holdouts.
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