Oklahomans in US House support EPA budget cuts

 

All five members of the Oklahoma delegation in the House were among those who voted this week for a bill making deep cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal year 2025.

The vote was 210-205 and Oklahoma Reps. Brecheen, Bice, Cole, Hern and Lucas voted to support cuts n the annual Department of Interior and EPA funding bill. The measure also included spending cuts for the National Park Service, the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art.

In the U.S. Senate, where the bill goes next, passage might be questionable. Democrats are in charge but Republicans defended the cuts in spending with a national debt of nearly $35 trillion.

As Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson said on the House floor, reported The Hill “cutting funding is never easy, but with the national debt totaling nearly $35 trillion and inflation at an unacceptable level, we had to make tough choices in this bill to rein in unnecessary discretionary spending.”

Republicans had plans of cutting all 12 annual government funding bills but lost support and leadership canceled votes on three other funding bills in the past week.

How big are the spending cuts in the GOP bill? At least 20% for the EPA and nearly 8% for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Hill reported it also eliminates funding for the Presidio Trust and cuts spending for the Council on Environmental Quality.

But the bills also included increased funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Wildland Fire Management and the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.