Regulatory reform high on Hageman's priority list in 119th Congressional session
The country is mere days away from a new presidential administration, and from Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman’s view, the tone up on Capitol Hill is one of enthusiasm, optimism and excitement as the 119th Congressional session builds up momentum.
Stopping by Gillette Friday, Hageman met with members of the Campbell County Commissioners to talk about a wide range of topics, from the fossil fuel regulations affecting the county as well as concerns about the Buffalo and Rock Springs Resource Management Plans, and how those issues will affect coal mining in the Powder River Basin.
“For me, it was, in part, a learning opportunity to get more information from the landowners as well as the county commissioners,” Hageman said. “It was also an opportunity to do a bit of brainstorming about ways in which we can maybe move forward.”
Meeting with a number of constituents across the day, including stopping by L&H Industrial and the Campbell County Senior Center, as well as planning to meet with oil and gas producers later in the day, Hageman said that she had gotten a lot of information and context to take back with her to D.C. expressing a wish to bring other members of Congress to visit and learn from those in the Powder River Basin area.
She highlighted Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber, who is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, and Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Chairman of the Federal Land Subcommittee.
“I am the chairman of the subcommittee on wild water, wildlife and fisheries,” she said. “And I think that the three of us together kind of have an interest in this area, and I think it would be great to have them out here.”
The sole legislator for Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hageman recently won another two years in the 2024 election season with 70.61% of the vote. Since the start of the session on Jan. 3, Hageman has sponsored a number of bills, including H.R.162, which looks to introduce a right of action against perceived First Amendment violations by federal employees.
Hageman said she and her colleagues on Capitol Hill are currently exploring the use of budget reconciliation to bypass the 60 votes needed for bills in the Senate chamber, requiring only a simple majority to pass through the chamber, but requires the bill only deal with the debt limit, changes in revenues and changes in direct spending.
“We’re really looking forward to getting to work,” she said. “I was just sworn in a week ago and we’ve probably spent a good 18 hours since then talking about reconciliation, talking about the policy of it, the legality of it, and then the nature of the kinds of bills that we can roll into that reconciliation package.”
Stating a desire to focus her efforts in 2025-2026 on regulatory reform, among other issues, Hageman decried the Rock Springs and Buffalo RMPs, both issued last year, which she characterized as harmful to Wyoming’s business and energy interests, introducing a pair of bills during the current session that would nullify the plans.
Hageman also highlighted her bill seeking to remove the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Grizzly Bear population from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife, characterizing the recent decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declining to delist the population as part of an effort by the federal government to control the land and its development.
“It’s not because the species is at risk of going extinct, which is the standard by which you’re supposed to be evaluating this,” Hageman said. “It’s about land use control and resource management. They use species: the grizzly bear, the gray wolf, the whooping crane, you could name a whole variety of species that they use, as a surrogate to try to control land use and resource development. We need to change that.”
Outlining their approach on Wednesday for 60 days of public comment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to remove the bear from the list as well as combining the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with all other population zones in an effort to better manage their recovery. Currently, the department estimates a total population of around 2000 grizzly bears in the continental U.S, with the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem currently estimated to be home to around 1,000.