Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York did not criticize President Biden’s Department of Energy for making large-scale oil purchases to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), even though he blasted former President Trump’s attempt in 2020 to include similar purchases in his stimulus package.
The Energy Department said Monday it would buy 4.65 million barrels of oil to replenish the SPR, which the Biden administration is using to combat soaring gasoline prices.
The ministry purchased oil at an average price of $77.
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Schumer did not criticize Biden’s oil purchases, as he did when similar requests were made under the Trump administration. (Getty Images)
“From the start, this Administration has put the economic and energy security of the American people first, and this milestone is proof that when the Biden-Harris Administration puts a plan in place and executes, it gets results for the American people,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
“As promised, we secured 180 million barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that were released in response to President Putin’s war in Ukraine. We accomplished this while providing favorable terms to taxpayers and preserving the readiness of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the largest in the world.”
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Granholm announced additional stockpiles would be added to replenish supplies. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The oil purchase drew little reaction because it wasn’t widely publicized by the president or the White House. It went largely unnoticed by Democratic and Republican lawmakers, whose attention was mostly focused on investigating the mismanagement that led to the assassination attempt on Trump earlier this month.
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Schumer did not comment on Biden’s oil purchases. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Schumer’s office did not comment to Fox News Digital when asked if there was a difference between Trump and Biden’s oil purchases for the SPR and whether the president is “bailing out” big oil companies in a similar way.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Trump administration attempted to include $3 billion in the $2 trillion pandemic stimulus package to purchase crude oil to replenish the SPR at low prices. In March 2020, crude oil prices were on a steep decline and were around $30 per barrel. The Trump administration’s proposal was ultimately removed from the final draft of the bill after strong opposition from Democrats.
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Oil barrels are seen near the Kokolik River in the National Petroleum Reserve in northern Alaska. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
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Schumer called the Trump administration’s request a “$3 billion bailout for Big Oil,” Roll Call reported at the time.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
