Good afternoon.
Congress Says Nyet to Russian Energy
Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike are rallying behind a response to Russia’s war on Ukraine that the Biden administration has thus far avoided, fearing greater economic aftershocks than the sanctions already announced: blocking imports of Russian oil.
“I’m all for that,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “Ban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia.”
Proponents of banning imports point to the fact that nearly 40 percent of the Russian government’s revenue comes from the oil and gas sector, so the consequences of an unprovoked war of aggression should extend to such a key aspect of the Russian economy. The United States imported about 672,000 barrels of oil per day from Russia last year, making up around 8 percent of American imports of oil and refined products.*
The White House, worried about higher prices for American consumers who are already contending with inflation, largely carved out Russia’s oil and gas sector from its sanctions announced last week. White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week that “we don’t have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy.”
“That would raise prices at the gas pump for Americans,” she told reporters of banning Russian oil imports.
But many lawmakers—itching to punish Russia as comprehensively as possible short of military escalation—aren’t convinced.
The ideological overlap on Capitol Hill on the matter is something to behold: Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, for example, is in broad agreement with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, otherwise known as the Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal.
Markey introduced legislation this week to ban imports of Russian oil. His bill estimates that American imports of Russian oil and petroleum in 2021 amounted to about $17.4 billion in imports.
“There is no separating Russian oil from the corruption and human rights abuses of the Putin regime,” Markey said. “We cannot criticize Europe for its reliance on Russian energy, as we pour dirty oil money into Russia. We cannot stop Putin with Russia’s gas in our cars.”
His legislation also calls for the administration to draft a comprehensive strategy to prioritize carbon-free energy sources.
And Thursday, a bipartisan group of 18 senators, led by West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, introduced legislation declaring a national emergency regarding Russian aggression and directing Biden to use executive authorities to block Russian energy imports.
“To me, this is clear as day: We’re not going to send Russia any more U.S. dollars to help them kill innocent people,” Murkowski said at a press conference announcing the bill.
And Manchin brushed off the Biden administration’s concerns about the potential for higher prices for American consumers. “When you talk about an inconvenience, can you imagine if you lived in Ukraine right now?” Manchin said. He added that he would gladly pay an additional 10 cents per gallon to help Ukraine.
Gas prices are up nearly a dollar over last year, on average. The global response to Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused surges in oil prices, going past $115 per barrel on Thursday for the first time in more than a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Biden administration has taken some steps to mitigate global energy supply disruption. Biden announced earlier this week that America and 30 other countries will release 60 million barrels of oil held in strategic global reserves. Half will come from the United States’ strategic petroleum reserve.
Republicans Urge House Reopening
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote to you about how the Capitol remains shuttered to the public, nearly two years after it was first closed to visitors with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Capitol Hill denizens were met with a more permissive environment this week, when mask requirements around the complex abruptly ended ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address. Despite the shift, there still don’t seem to be any concrete plans to move closer to a public reopening of the complex.
House GOP leaders introduced a resolution this week calling for Speaker Pelosi to open the House to the public. They pointed to the Senate’s rules allowing for limited public tours of the building, which are not matched on the House side.
When asked about reopening the complex during her weekly press conference Thursday, Pelosi deferred to the Capitol’s attending physician and security officials, vaguely predicting, “I think you’ll see an unfolding now of the Capitol opening.”
“It’s about COVID, and it’s about security,” Pelosi added. “Mostly it’s about COVID, though.”
The January 6 attack on the Capitol still looms large in members’ minds and as Capitol Police revise their security procedures.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer raised concerns about members’ safety during floor remarks about reopening the complex on Thursday. He pointed to the Republican National Committee’s resolution earlier this year censuring Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
“If we are telling people in this country that January 6 was legitimate political discourse, then we are going to have great concerns about opening up this Capitol,” Hoyer said in the regular end-of-week floor debate between him and GOP Whip Steve Scalise. “For the safety of our members, for the safety of the public who wants to visit, for the safety of our staff.”
You can watch Hoyer and Scalise’s discussion of reopening the Capitol here.
Senate Moves Fast on Cybersecurity
My colleague Ryan has a piece on the site this morning about cybersecurity legislation the Senate passed this week. He writes:
On Tuesday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent a package of bills to help better prepare the nation’s cyberinfrastructure for such an attack, the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act. Unanimous consent means no vote took place because no senators opposed it, and the normal Senate procedural rules were set aside in order to fast-track the bill.
Now, it’s on to the House.
“The need to protect this country from cyberattack—always very, very, very important—has assumed even greater importance now with Putin fighting in Ukraine and threatening cyberattacks throughout the world,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week. “And today the Senate is taking an urgently needed step to protect the American people, American critical infrastructure, and American government institutions from the dangerous threat of cyber-attacks.”
Read the rest of Ryan’s piece, with more details on the legislation, here.
Of Note
*Correction, March 4, 2022: The article originally stated that the U.S. imports 672,000 barrels of Russian oil annually, not daily.
Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.
With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.