White House Agrees to Expedite Completion of West Virginia Pipeline in Debt-Ceiling Negotiations

The White House has agreed to expedite the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia, limiting judicial review of the project as part of debt-ceiling negotiations with House Republicans, who touted the development as a win for U.S. energy production and a strategic political victory for their party.

Representative Garret Graves (R., La.) explained in a call with reporters on Wednesday that the White House put it on the table and Republicans were careful to adjust the language to their benefit. The administration made the concession despite its longstanding opposition to fossil fuels.

If the agreement holds, the final debt-ceiling bill, which is expected to pass the House Wednesday evening, will include a provision stripping courts of their ability to review review challenges to any permit or authorization granted to the project by an executive agency, allowing the pipeline to finally be completed.

“The language was significantly rewritten in order to get a win on judicial review for an energy project,” said Graves. “It now is going to put Democrats on the record supporting the judicial limitations on conventional energy projects.”

The development is significant considering the fact that pipelines often moored in years of litigation.

The 303-mile pipeline will transfer natural gas across West Virginia and Virginia. Construction was most recently halted by the Fourth Circuit because of a dispute over whether developers were complying with state water regulations.

“It is infuriating to see the same 4th Circuit Court panel deal yet another setback for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project and once again side with activists who seem hell-bent on killing any fossil energy that will make our country energy independent and secure,” explained Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) in a statement at the time.

Last year, when the Biden administration secured Manchin’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act, it promised it would support permitting reform and in particular the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to the Washington Post.

Manchin, who is the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, has become increasingly outspoken in criticizing the Biden administration’s hostility toward domestic energy production. He has opposed the administration’s implementation of certain climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and has also vocally decried new climate-change actions, like the EPA’s planned carbon rules for power plants. The West Virginia senator even threatened to launch a blockade of all EPA nominees.

For the administration, expediting the Mountain Valley Pipeline was crucial to improving relations with Manchin. The West Virginia senator praised the provision when it was announced.

“I am pleased Speaker McCarthy and his leadership team see the tremendous value in completing the MVP to increase domestic energy production and drive down costs across America and especially in WV,” he said.

According to Graves, expediting approval of the project also removes a “carrot” the administration would have otherwise continued using to bring Manchin and other members of the West Virginia congressional delegation on-side in future negotiations.

“I think you will see at the end of the day, with the [National Environmental Policy Act] changes and with getting Democrats on record supporting a conventional energy project that ties the hands of judiciary and lastly removes that carrot that we know is going to continue to be played…it’s a strategic win for Republicans,” Graves said.

Climate activists and some Democrats were critical of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s inclusion and may attempt to strike it from the bill. Virginia House Democrats and Senator Tim Kaine (D., Va.) have already announced their opposition.

“Senator Kaine is extremely disappointed by the provision of the bill to greenlight the controversial Mountain Valley pipeline in Virginia, bypassing the normal judicial and administrative review process every other energy project has to go through,” explained a spokesperson for Kaine. “This provision is completely unrelated to the debt ceiling matter.”