Pennsylvania's two senators are joining forces in an attempt to relocate the Department of Energy's fossil fuel office to Pittsburgh, a blue-collar city with a rich manufacturing and energy legacy, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Sens. Dave McCormick (R.) and John Fetterman (D.) introduced legislation Thursday that would move the Energy Department's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to the Steel City, an action the lawmakers say would bring federal officials closer to the industries and people they regulate. The bill would impact the office's entire 750-person staff and mandate that the relocation take place within 12 months.
The office is perhaps best known for its role managing the nation's two central emergency oil reserves: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. Those reserves were most recently thrust into the limelight after the Biden administration sold off hundreds of thousands of barrels of emergency oil stocks in a bid to combat high gas prices.
The two senators noted that the office also manages the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which is already located in Pittsburgh. That lab oversees hundreds of government-sponsored energy research projects focusing on clean coal production, critical mineral extraction, advanced oil and gas production, carbon capture technology, and green energy.
If the bill is passed, it would bring the office to a region that is one of the nation's top suppliers of natural gas, coal, petroleum products, and electricity. Pennsylvania, according to federal data, is the second-largest supplier of energy to other states and is home to a large portion of the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation that contains some of the most prolific natural gas reserves in the world.
The legislation comes amid a broader push to make the federal government more efficient and could earn the support of President Donald Trump, who has backed such relocation efforts. During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to move thousands of federal jobs out of Washington, D.C. "This is how I will shatter the deep state and restore government that is controlled by the people and for the people," he remarked in a 2023 campaign ad.
"For far too long, federal agencies in Washington have been physically removed from the workers and industries they regulate," McCormick said in a statement to the Free Beacon. "I’m proud to partner with Senator Fetterman on this legislation to bring a critical Energy Department office to Pittsburgh near the heart of the Marcellus."
"With its rich history of energy production, top-tier universities, and state-of-the-art manufacturing infrastructure, Pittsburgh is uniquely qualified to be the home of the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management," Fetterman added. "Housing federal agencies in the communities they impact is a no-brainer."
The legislation would require the energy secretary to provide a report to Congress on employment changes, though the senators said the impact on staffing would be minimal and would provide an employment boost for Pennsylvania.
In a similar move, the first Trump administration relocated the Bureau of Land Management's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colo., in 2019. Democrats blasted the move, saying it would lead to staffing shortages at the agency and the Biden administration ultimately reversed it.