The House Natural Resources Committee advanced the energy portion of Republicans’ reconciliation tax bill early Wednesday morning after a marathon markup, squeezing in one last-minute amendment ordering the sale of thousands of acres of public land. 

The position of the bill cleared out of committee in a 26-17 vote with only one Democrat, Rep. Adam Gray of California, voting in favor. 

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Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) has said the legislation will generate over $18.5 billion in savings and new revenue for the federal government, driven by new oil and gas leasing and the withdrawal of funds from agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The bill would also implement reductions in royalty rates paid by oil and gas producers.

Without the majority, Democrats had little chance of blocking the entire package, and moved to draw out debate as long as they could by introducing more than 120 amendments to the proposal. 

The only successful amendment came from Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT). It would have the government sell roughly 11,000 acres of public lands in their two states. The amendment indicates that this land could create opportunities for affordable housing.

“The disposal of this land would allow for more responsible development while giving a positive return to the American taxpayer,” Amodei said upon introducing the amendment. “The lands included in this amendment were also identified by their respective counties in Nevada and Utah for disposal.”

Democrats lambasted their Republican colleagues on the committee over the amendment, particularly for introducing it so late in the markup hearing. 

“This is just some truly odious sausage at 11:20 p.m. at the end of a long markup,” Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA) said. “Any member of Congress that votes for this is just surrendering any semblance of good process; the integrity of the legislative process is dead if you do this.”

The heated discussion over the amendment was seemingly the first extended debate that occurred throughout the hours-long hearing, as Republicans remained noticeably quiet throughout the day. 

Huffman repeatedly called out the Republican members for choosing not to debate over the amendments as he introduced them. At one point in the early afternoon, the Democrat called a vote to adjourn the mark-up meeting, which failed, and explained that he called it in order to bring the Republicans back into the room for debate. After the vote, several Republicans once again left the hearing room. 

Other Democrats, including Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado and Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island, also took time to criticize Republicans for failing to engage in any debate. 

“I’m beginning to think the Rs across the table from us are not Republicans but robots,” Magaziner said, and later quoted Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, saying, “Bueller?” 

The Democrat also accused Republican leaders of ordering the committee members to not engage in debate. “What does your own leadership think of you if they don’t trust you to speak?” Magaziner asked.

The passage of the package is a major win for Republicans looking to pass President Donald Trump’s signature piece of legislation codifying the administration’s tax and spending agenda. 

Democrats accused Republicans of propping up the fossil fuel industries with the bill by requiring quarterly oil and gas lease sales, requiring annual coal lease sales, incentivizing energy development on the Coastal Plain of Alaska, and allowing companies to pay a 125% fee to streamline the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process. 

Huffman himself introduced dozens of amendments to the text on Tuesday, including one that proposed permanently prohibiting leasing in the Arctic Refuge. 

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“The Arctic Refuge should never be auctioned off,” Huffman said. “The Trump administration‘s reckless and thoughtless push to sell off the revenues isn’t about lowering energy costs. It’s about sacrificing your public lands for his billionaire buddies.” 

He also put forward amendments looking to strike down the proposed NEPA provisions, as well as calling for the removal of any language identical to that found in Project 2025.