James Comer U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district | Official U.S. House Headshot
James Comer U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district | Official U.S. House Headshot
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman, James Comer, has expressed approval of the Department of Energy's (DOE) decision to provide the 2023 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export study to the Oversight Committee. This action comes amid an investigation into the Biden Administration's ban on new export permits for LNG exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. The committee had previously requested this study from the Biden Administration, which was not provided.
Chairman Comer criticized the Biden Administration's handling of energy production data, stating, "Biden Administration officials, who religiously claimed to ‘follow the science,’ abandoned it to undermine American-made energy production, appease climate activists, and achieve their predetermined outcomes." He further accused them of withholding important data from Congress and the public in pursuit of what he described as a "radical environmental agenda."
Comer commended President Trump and Secretary Chris Wright for their transparency efforts. "I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Wright for providing the transparency the American people deserve and for taking action to restore America’s energy dominance," he said.
The Oversight Committee began requesting information regarding the LNG export ban in March 2024. Despite a briefing with DOE staff in April 2024 and a hearing involving Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, no documents or draft studies from 2023 were referenced.
In May 2024, Secretary Granholm indicated that an updated study would be completed by early 2025. However, according to a court filing by Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO) in September 2024, it was revealed that such a study was conducted in 2023 but not provided to the committee.
Further calls for transparency were made in October 2024 by Chairman Comer alongside other representatives. In December 2024, Assistant Secretary Crabtree stated before a subcommittee that he was unaware of any complete study existing in 2023.
The full DOE 2023 LNG study is now available for review online.
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