The Senate voted Thursday to cancel Biden administration rules related to protections for endangered and threatened species in the United States, the latest effort by Republicans to undo aspects of Biden's regulatory agenda, many of which have gained support from centrist Democrats.
The upper chamber voted 51-49 in two separate votes to approve two Congressional Review Act resolutions with mostly Republicans in support. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME) voted to approve S.J. Res. 23, while Manchin and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) voted in favor of S.J. Res. 24. Both will now head to the House for a vote.
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The Biden administration has described the directives issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as crucial to bolstering safety and habitat protections for endangered and threatened species.
Republicans, however, say the rules are overly broad.
S.J. Res. 23, introduced by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), would preserve the regulatory definition of "habitat" as established by the Endangered Species Act, a distinction she said would provide clarity for landowners and businesses in her home state of Wyoming.
“Two-thirds of all endangered species are located on private lands, so private property owners need to be partners in species recover, not the enemy," Lummis said. "This CRA will ensure that Wyoming landowners are not unfairly targeted by the administration and that habitat designations are based on science, not on politics.”
S.J. Res. 24, introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), is focused on reversing new regulations meant to protect the Northern Long-Eared Bat, the population of which has suffered amid an outbreak of white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
“The listing of the northern long-eared bat is an example of the ESA being used to stifle development rather than its intended purpose, which is to protect species from human-caused harm,” said Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), who introduced the House version of the bill.
The Biden administration has said it would veto the resolutions.
In a statement Thursday, the White House criticized S.J. Res. 23 as severely limiting the administration's ability to identify and designate all the areas necessary to the survival and recovery of a species and said it "could heighten the risk of extinctions and undermine America’s proud and successful conservation traditions."
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The White House said S.J. Res. 24 would risk extinction for the species by failing to protect it from white-nose syndrome, which has spread across approximately 79% of the northern long-eared bat’s entire range and is expected to affect 100% of the species’ range by the end of the decade.