A May report from the Department of the Interior announced the largest onshore lease sale in history of more than 33,000 premium acres in the Permian Basin, generating over $4 billion. Republicans credit the new possibility of American energy dominance to the Trump administration reversing Biden-era energy policy with the One Big, Beautiful Bill. “This lease sale is just the latest example of President [Donald] Trump and Congressional Republicans reversing the Biden administration’s anti-energy policies,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told The Daily Signal. One lease sale generated more than $4 BILLION!!!American energy helps us lower costs, create good jobs, strengthen local communities, and allow us to be energy independent.This is what happens when you UNLEASH American energy. https://t.co/gpx7ev5MOM— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) May 22, 2026 Under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the government acts as the landlord, leasing out federal land and drilling rights to oil companies. The federal government collects royalties from sales, which benefit the federal government and the taxpayer. In 2024, the Biden administration’s anti-oil policies increased royalties from 12.5% to 16.67%, harming American oil companies and, in turn, Americans. The GOP’s One Big, Beautiful Bill reversed the royalties back to 12.5%. “By restoring the pre-Biden royalty rate and restarting predictable quarterly lease sales, the Working Families Tax Cut gave energy producers the certainty to make major, long-term investments in American production,” Scalise continued. “That’s creating jobs, strengthening energy security, and generating massive new revenue for taxpayers and local communities.” “America is sitting on some of the richest energy resources in the world, and President Donald J. Trump is committed to putting those resources to work for the American people,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a press release. The power generated at this family-operated Beautiful Clean Coal mine in Alaska is lowering energy prices, keeping lights on, heating homes and powering military bases.Secure, reliable, affordable AMERICAN energy. pic.twitter.com/Te89bVdnzW— Secretary Doug Burgum (@SecretaryBurgum) May 21, 2026 The One Big, Beautiful Bill officially repealed an Inflation Reduction Act provision to reverse the royalty rate for oil and gas leases on federal land to 12.5%. This $4 billion revenue is proof that this reversal has made it easier for producers to drill more and keep more of their money to be used for growing their companies, creating new jobs, driving technological innovation, and investing in future lease sales. The massive tax cut bill also directed the Department of the Interior to resume mandatory quarterly onshore lease sales, mandating at least four lease sales per year in various states. Companies bid for the lease, granting it to the highest bidder. With this $4 billion sale, the next competition is likely to be even greater or more competitive. One of my top priorities as Chairman is to protect the American way of life. I'm pleased the FY27 Interior & Environment Bill does just that by championing policies that bolster domestic energy, promote critical mineral production, and ensure access to public lands. https://t.co/d89fOEiqxS— Congressman Mike Simpson (@CongMikeSimpson) May 20, 2026 “This over $4 billion lease sale is another sign that President Trump’s American Energy Dominance Agenda is delivering results,” Burgum continued. “By cutting costs and removing barriers to development, we are unleashing American energy, strengthening national security, creating jobs, and generating significant revenue for taxpayers and local communities.” Texas and New Mexico aren’t the only states with energy wins. Also resulting from the One Big, Beautiful Bill, the department announced in March a record $460.9 million in energy revenue to Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. This revenue record was reached because the legislation raised the statutory cap.

As House Democrats and the NAACP encourage black athletes to consider avoiding scholarships at certain Southern universities over redistricting disputes, Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, is pushing back—calling the effort a political maneuver that undermines opportunities for young athletes. Speaking to The Daily Signal, Owens criticized what he described as “black elitists” seeking to “take the dreams of young black people away so that they can keep theirs.” The debate comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the landmark congressional redistricting case. During a press conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he continues “to stand with the NAACP in encouraging athletes in our community to look elsewhere until these racially gerrymandered maps in the South are reversed.” Ahead of the press conference, the NAACP called on current and prospective black athletes, their families, alumni, and fans to “withhold athletic and financial support” from major public universities in states that “have moved to limit, weaken or erase black voting representation.” The effort is part of the organization’s “Out of Bounds” campaign. Owens, a former NFL player who was among the first black athletes to receive a football scholarship to the University of Miami, said the push is a move from these “black elitist” to urge young black athletes from pursuing top opportunities. “They want our black kids not to go to the best schools for athletics, as a way of boycotting, because they’re not gonna keep their jobs as a politician,” Owens said. “So it shows, really, where the priorities are. It is not about our kids. It’s not about the opportunities our kids can work hard and learn and get into the middle class and move forward.” He added that the motivation behind the call to boycott is political rather than about voting rights. “It’s not about that. It’s, ‘I’m about to lose my seat in Alabama, in Florida, in Texas. So I want you to boycott. I want you not to go to that school you want to go to in order to build your dreams so that I can keep mine,’” Owens said. Owens also warned that the effort could alienate voters, arguing it reinforces concerns that Democrat leaders are out of touch with the communities they claim to represent. “Blacks are gonna start realizing you don’t care about them,” he said, calling the NAACP initiative “not a good idea.” “Maybe [they] should pull back on doing that,” Owens added. He said young athletes are unlikely to follow such guidance, arguing they will choose schools that offer the best path to success. “These kids are not going to listen to some elitists in D.C. telling them not to go to a school that’s going to help them get to the NFL,” Owens said. “It’s just gonna happen.” Jeffries, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the NAACP did not respond to The Daily Signal’s multiple requests for comment.

President Donald Trump has called a Cabinet meeting Wednesday at Camp David, the historic presidential retreat in Maryland, a White House official confirmed to The Daily Signal on Tuesday. All Cabinet members are expected to attend what will be the 12th such meeting in his second term. The White House official said the meeting will highlight the administration’s successes on the economy and small business, highlights from the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, and foreign policy updates. President Trump on Monday described negotiations with Iran as “proceeding nicely,” though he warned that “it will only be a Great Deal for All or, no Deal at all —Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!” The New York Post first reported the Cabinet meeting announcement. It will likely mark the last meeting for Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Gabbard announced last week that she is resigning from the position effective June 30, citing her husband’s battle with a rare form of bone cancer.

Virginians were promised affordability. Instead, they’re getting an energy agenda that risks making electricity more expensive and less reliable. Gov. Abigail Spanberger has consistently sided with the climate-policy wing of her party even when its proposals threaten higher energy costs for consumers. One such proposal is rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). In 2023, Virginia withdrew from RGGI, the regional cap-and-trade scheme that imposes a carbon tax in 11 states. As one of her first acts as governor, Spanberger signed legislation to rejoin RGGI, forcing the commonwealth back into the costly compact. But Pennsylvania provides an interesting case study for Virginians to consider. After six years of legal battles and lost investment, the Keystone State abandoned RGGI—and the commonwealth had a lot of good reasons to do so. Before jumping into the lessons learned, let’s dispense with the euphemisms. RGGI is far from a “market-based solution” to emissions. There’s nothing “voluntary” about a government edict that forces electricity producers to buy and sell “allowances.” Businesses don’t absorb those costs; they simply pass them along to ratepayers. RGGI is a carbon tax—plain and simple. Moreover, it does not address any real problems. From 2022 to 2023 (when it wasn’t in RGGI), Pennsylvania cut emissions by nearly 11%, the steepest year-over-year drop in decades. And despite the drought of new energy projects caused by the threat of RGGI, the Keystone State also managed to increase electricity generation in those years. In fact, Pennsylvania was one of the few states on its regional grid (Virginia included) to cut emissions and increase generation. Put simply, Pennsylvania was a success story, debunking the false choice between environmental stewardship and economic development—all without RGGI. Pennsylvania’s RGGI story was problematic from the start. In 2019, then-Gov. Tom Wolf issued an executive order that forced the commonwealth to join RGGI, bypassing the state legislature entirely. The decision was immediately challenged in court, leading to a 2023 court ruling that found the carbon tax unconstitutional. Wolf’s successor, Gov. Josh Shapiro, appealed the decision, prolonging this litigious battle. It wasn’t until 2025 that the governor jettisoned RGGI during state budget negotiations. But by then, the damage was real. Although the courts kept Pennsylvania out of RGGI, the legal limbo scared away would-be investment as electricity demand began to surge. Prior to RGGI, about three-fourths of proposed power projects came to fruition between 2013 and 2018, according to new analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation. That conversion rate plummeted to 9% during Pennsylvania’s six-year flirtation with RGGI. In fact, Pennsylvania didn’t build a single new natural-gas power plant during the RGGI years. Even worse, retirements of reliable power plants continued, resulting in a net loss of 484 megawatts—roughly what the entire city of Pittsburgh uses in a year. That matters for every state in the region, as Pennsylvania is the largest electricity exporter, and Virginia ranks among the highest electricity importers. These losses become starker when examining neighboring Ohio. Pennsylvania and Ohio share similar geography, natural resources, and market conditions. But there is one big difference: Ohio never joined RGGI.  And that little difference paid off for Ohio. During this RGGI sojourn, Pennsylvania added only 40 megawatts of new natural gas generation but lost out on about 3,800 megawatts of operable capacity—enough to power 1.9 million homes. Meanwhile, Ohio added thousands of megawatts during the same period. Ohio’s new generation proposal pipeline grew by 33% during this period, while Pennsylvania’s nosedived by 38%. What Pennsylvania lost in new energy investment, Ohio gained. Clearly, while Pennsylvania hemmed and hawed in court over RGGI, investors and producers set up shop in Ohio’s more stable regulatory environment. The final price tag of the RGGI years was staggering. During its six-year entanglement with RGGI, Pennsylvania forfeited an estimated $5 billion in new investment in its energy sector. Sadly, Pennsylvania’s flirtation with Green New Deal-style policies didn’t end with its withdrawal from RGGI. Instead, Shapiro has already doubled down on some of the worst aspects of RGGI and added even more unnecessary restrictions and mandates. The governor’s proposed Lightning Plan—an unsavory amalgamation of carbon taxes, renewable-energy mandates, and green-energy subsidies—will double household utility bills over the next decade. If Shapiro and Spanberger want to cut emissions and costs, they should lean into more reliable, affordable sources—namely, natural gas. Between 2005 and 2019, the United States removed more than 800 million metric tons of carbon dioxide—two-thirds of which the U.S. Energy Information Administration attributes to natural gas. Virginia’s future still relies heavily on energy. The state’s growth opportunities—everything from AI data centers to advanced manufacturing—are largely energy-intensive industries. Pew Research found that Virginia is a national leader in data center development, with nearly 400 centers built and more than 250 developments planned. Virginia’s economic well-being depends entirely on the availability of affordable, reliable energy—something which RGGI cannot promise. Also, Virginia taxpayers saved $937 million when the state pulled out of RGGI the first time. Lawmakers should learn their lesson. RGGI is a solution in search of a problem. Pennsylvania’s six-year RGGI ordeal serves as a cautionary tale that promises to scare away investment and further destabilize an already fragile grid. Virginia—and other states considering similarly damaging policies—would be wise to take heed of the Pennsylvania experience. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

Last week, Big-Tentism slithered into the Fairfax County GOP meeting and tempted us to silence in the face of Democrat attempts to enshrine abortion, gay marriage, and transgender ideology in the Virginia state constitution. Here is what happened. Among the many slimy things Virginia Democrats did when they assumed power was to pass a slate of constitutional amendments to be put before the voters. The first was the gerrymandering power grab. The others include amendments to enshrine the high holy sacraments of the Left: late-term abortion and gay marriage. Abortion on demand is already legal in this state, as is gay marriage. Neither of the Democrat amendments is necessary for the desires of the sexual left in Virginia. They already have all they desire. What these sneaky amendments do is turn the dial up to 11—remove parents altogether, add transgender ideology—and then ensure these divisive and controversial issues are taken as far out of the hands of Virginia voters as possible. The amendments will be on the ballot in the fall, and the Fairfax GOP committee met to consider what its position would be in response to them. You’d think that would be easy: Oppose! But no—political calculation—the Big Tent—reared its ugly head. Under consideration were the following: support the amendments, oppose the amendments, or take no position on the amendments. Up to the meeting last Tuesday, we had heard nothing from the Republican Party of Virginia, only whispers that the “leadership” wanted the Fairfax GOP to remain neutral on these controversial issues. Katie Gorka, the widely respected chairman of the Fairfax GOP, conveyed state party Chairman Jeff Ryer’s position that the local party is about electing candidates, not taking positions on policies like constitutional amendments. Where has Ryer been lately? Only last month, the Fairfax GOP and all other local Republican committees took strong, vocal positions in opposition to the Democrat amendment on redistricting—and on other amendments before it. The room was very tense. What kind of rabbit would the state party pull out of its hat? It turns out it was the surprise appearance of former Attorney General Jason Miyares, somebody loved by all conservatives, fresh off his boffo appearance before the U.S. House Committee on the issue of Virginia becoming a sanctuary state for illegal alien murderers. Miyares gave a rousing speech against Gov. Abigail Spanberger and then turned to the amendments. He said that individuals can and should oppose these amendments personally, “in their own spheres,” but that the party needed to expand and the tent needed to be bigger and therefore the Fairfax GOP ought to be neutral. We were shocked. It was hard to believe. Miyares was arguing the Teddy Kennedy position on abortion: Personally opposed, but … The final vote was decisive. Ninety-one voted outright to oppose the amendment on abortion. There was only one vote to be neutral. On gay marriage and gender ideology, there were 86 votes to oppose, and six recommending gutless neutrality. There were zero votes to support either amendment. Since the vote, there are new whispers that Miyares was only playing devil’s advocate and does, indeed, want local committees to oppose these Democrat amendments. That was certainly not his message to us that night. Maybe our resounding vote changed his mind. Here’s what we know: Life and family, butchering gender-confused kids, and boys in girls’ locker rooms—these are not issues that Republicans can or should ever waver on. The message is loud and clear: Republicans in Fairfax County—yes, even liberal Fairfax County—are ready to fight the Democrats on abortion, on marriage, and on biological reality. The Fairfax GOP spit the proffered lukewarmness right out of our mouths. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.