{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ansari.house.gov/media/press-releases/ansari-huffman-demand-answers-as-trump-administration-shuts-down-snap-and-paychecks-keeps-big-oil-flush-with-cash", "Ansari, Huffman Demand Answers as Trump Administration Shuts Down SNAP and Paychecks, Keeps Big Oil Flush with Cash", "2025-10-28", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Yassamin Ansari", "A000381", "ansari.house.gov", "ansari", "https://ansari.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-02) demanded answers from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on why their agencies have prioritized checking off the wish lists of oil, timber, and mining companies during the ongoing Republican government shutdown while halting critical public safety, wildfire prevention, and disaster preparedness work.\n\nThe members wrote that while millions of working people face a loss of services because of \u201cCongressional Republicans\u2019 inability to garner the votes to open the government even when they control both houses of Congress,\u201d the Trump administration has kept operations for oil, timber, and mining running at full speed.\n\nThe letter follows reports that, under the Trump administration\u2019s orders, Interior and Agriculture have kept permitting offices open for drilling, mining, and logging while furloughing staff who support wildfire response, park operations, and disaster preparedness.\n\nThe lawmakers detail how the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture have continued issuing new oil and gas drilling permits\u2014more than 300 since the shutdown began\u2014while advancing controversial mining projects such as the Ambler Road in Alaska and the Libby Mine in Montana. At the same time, the agencies have held coal lease sales, closed visitor centers, paused prescribed burns, and furloughed critical wildfire support staff.\n\nThey have cited a so-called \u201cnational energy emergency\u201d to justify keeping fossil fuel operations running, even as they halted major renewable energy projects like Nevada\u2019s 6.2-gigawatt solar development.\n\nThe members warn that \u201ccontinuing to prioritize activities benefitting extractive industries over activities supporting the protection of life and property represents an abandonment of basic agency responsibilities and potentially violates the Antideficiency Act.\u201d That law, they explain, \u201cprohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations or accepting voluntary services during a lapse in appropriations except in narrowly defined emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.\u201d\n\nThe members also raised concerns about risks to public safety, noting that the shutdown has \u201cimpeded your agencies\u2019 ability to fight wildfire, respond to other natural disasters, and protect our national parks.\u201d\n\nThey warned that by directing personnel to continue routine fossil fuel activities, \u201cyour agencies have expanded the emergency exception beyond its intent to cover \u2018ongoing, regular functions\u2019 of government administration,\u201d which \u201cGAO precedent emphasizes agencies cannot lawfully direct staff to perform in the absence of appropriations or authorization.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers requested documents describing which activities and services have continued during the shutdown, the criteria used to make those determinations, and all communications regarding the designation of oil, mining, and timber production from public lands as \u201cemergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.\u201d\n\nRead the full letter HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ansari.house.gov/media/press-releases/ansari-huffman-demand-answers-as-trump-administration-shuts-down-snap-and-paychecks-keeps-big-oil-flush-with-cash"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8306319359689951, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}