U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) led 20 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemning the Biden administration’s latest attempt to weaponize the tax code against U.S. energy producers.

The letter is in response to President Biden’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2024. Specifically, the letter focuses on the $100 billion in targeted tax increases on energy, including the production of oil, gas, and coal.

Since President Biden took office, energy prices have increased 37.2%. Last summer, Tennesseans saw higher electric bills as natural gas prices skyrocketed to a 14-year high. 

The senators highlight how these new tax increases will crush jobs, raise energy prices for American families and give our adversaries, including Russia, the upper hand in the global energy markets. 

“Unbelievably, the administration would willingly suppress domestic energy production knowing it means fewer jobs and higher prices for the American people. These crushing tax proposals, paired with the administration’s heavy handed regulations and mandates, would threaten American families’ access to affordable and reliable energy, while giving our adversaries the upper-hand in the global energy markets,” the senators wrote. “America is fortunate to have abundant energy resources. Our nation needs to be focused on unleashing American energy and innovation instead of throwing away one of our biggest economic and geopolitical advantages.”

Cosigners of the letter include Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Cornyn (R-Texas), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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