Republican leadership has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the effects of President Joe Biden's large-scale emergency oil drawdowns on the structural and strategic integrity of the nation's oil reserves.

The Biden administration's drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which were carried throughout 2022 to reduce high gasoline prices, have left the reserve at its lowest levels in decades.

SENATE APPROVES MEASURE TO CANCEL BIDEN'S SOLAR TARIFF PAUSE, TEEING UP THIRD VETO

The wide-ranging request to GAO, written by House Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, raises concerns that Biden's drawdowns left the reserve's underground salt caverns damaged.

Rodgers and Barrasso also asked the GAO to audit the Department of Energy's administration of a congressionally mandated modernization program for the reserve. Congress authorized the $1.4 billion program in 2015, and the Biden administration requested an additional $500 million for modernization in November.

"We were disappointed to learn that the modernization program, known as Life Extension II, has been put on hold by DOE, resulting in critical delays and cost overruns," the lawmakers said, adding that the department "has failed to establish long-term plans for the optimal size, configuration, maintenance, and operational capabilities of the reserve."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The White House pledged to begin refilling the reserve when the U.S. futures benchmark reaches between $67 and $72, but its first attempt to do so failed.

Democrats praised Biden for his novel use of the reserve to reduce gasoline prices after the war in Ukraine began, and some support policies to expand the reserve's scope. Republicans have widely criticized the strategy as an election-year ploy and argued it leaves the government less prepared in the case of a fuel emergency.