Senate

Utah Republican said he is baffled by the president's decision to support Brazil in developing its oil reserves.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Wednesday called on her Senate colleagues to approve a Senate Republican energy bill that would restart offshore oil leases, just one day after the Senate failed to advance a Democratic bill.

"If there is one word that should be used to describe this bill, it would be 'modest,'" she said on the floor. "Everything within it is straightforward. Nothing is outlandish, nothing goes too far, there's no poison pills in it."

Democrats are using high gas prices as an excuse to play politics rather than offering real solutions, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) charged Wednesday.

"Once again Democrats have been faced with a crisis and done their best to turn it into a political exercise rather than doing something to help and create jobs," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

"They pushed a tax on energy because evidently some of their leaders think it polls well," he said, referring to a Democratic bill that would have stripped the five largest oil-producing companies of $21 billion in tax breaks over the next decade.

Reid's move sets up a Thursday vote on controversial appeals court nominee Goodwin Liu.

The Senate voted not to advance the Democratic bill that would cut billions in tax breaks for big oil companies.

The Obama administration is an “enemy to production” and is responsible for high gas prices, freshman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday.

“Demand for oil and gas is outstripping supply,” said Paul. “Why don't we have more supply? Because the current administration is basically an enemy to production, an enemy to drilling, an enemy to all things related to energy.”

Four Senate Democrats this week asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate whether U.S. oil refineries are purposefully cutting back capacity levels in order to keep gasoline prices high.

Sens. Murkowski and Boxer jousted on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the repeal of tax breaks for Big Oil.

Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.) said Tuesday's planned Senate vote to raise taxes on oil companies is mere "entertainment," and accused her fellow Democrats of picking on companies that already pay a higher proportion of taxes than many other industries.

The Obama administration on Tuesday said it "strongly supports" a Senate bill that would increase taxes on oil companies, which the Senate was debating Tuesday afternoon but was expected to reject in a vote Tuesday evening.

In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House said it has put forward a plan to cut U.S. oil imports by one-third by 2025 and increase domestic production. "It is also clear that there are much more responsible ways to utilize the billions in taxpayer dollars provided to oil and gas companies through unwarranted tax breaks," it said.