Momentum Into Action: Why the Senate Must Pass Permitting Reform Now

Momentum Into Action: Why the Senate Must Pass Permitting Reform Now

Following a period of momentum driven by executive action, strategic investment and streamlined permitting processes, genuine opportunity to transform America’s minerals future lays ahead. Yet without decisive congressional action in the coming months, that opportunity risks stalling. The Senate now holds the power to remove the final barriers standing between America’s vast minerals resources and the domestic production capacity our economy and national security demand.

While America has been paralyzed by regulatory dysfunction, China has weaponized global minerals supply chains. Military modernization, advanced energy, semiconductor and AI industries and our global manufacturing competitiveness all hinge on access to minerals that flow through China-controlled supply chains, leaving the United States vulnerable.

The Trump administration has moved with unprecedented speed to clear regulatory obstacles and signal commitment to domestic minerals production. But executive action is not enough. Reducing the amount of time it takes to bring an American mine online – an average of 29 years – cannot happen without action from the Senate. Every month Congress delays allows China to tighten its grip on global minerals supplies. Every stalled project is one fewer source of domestic supply when America needs it most.

The House has done its part, and the path forward is clear. The Senate must now take action to pass the:

• SPEED Act – Enacting durable NEPA reforms that establish firm review deadlines, prevent litigation from becoming a tool for project obstruction and restore environmental review to its legitimate purpose.
• Mining Regulatory Clarity Act – Providing regulatory certainty by clarifying that responsible mining operations can proceed under the legal framework that has governed them for over a century.

2026 will determine whether 2025’s momentum translates into lasting change. We have the resources; what we need now is a Senate willing to remove barriers preventing those assets from being deployed.