By Tom Ozimek
During the government shutdown, the Trump administration will continue to process oil and gas drilling permits on a limited basis while putting a halt to all renewable energy activities.
The Interior Department, which oversees energy development on federal lands and waters, said in contingency plans that it will furlough thousands of workers and freeze all renewable projects like wind and solar, but will continue processing permits for conventional sources of energy like oil and gas that are deemed necessary.
The plans—one from the Bureau of Land Management and the other from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management—were developed in preparation for a potential shutdown, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a stopgap bill to keep the government temporarily funded.
Under the Bureau of Land Management plan, roughly 4,000 of its 9,250 employees will be furloughed, but staff handling permitting, inspections, and enforcement for oil and gas projects will continue working.
Some employees are classified as “excepted” due to a national energy emergency declared earlier this year, while others are “exempt” because their work is funded by fees collected from industry applicants or other sources not tied to the current year’s appropriation.
Staff responsible for processing oil and gas permits, coal energy leases, and other energy and mineral resources will be spared from furlough, provided that such initiatives are “necessary to protect human life and federal property,” the plan states.
By contrast, renewable projects are paused. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plan states explicitly that, other than certain time-sensitive activities specifically supported by employees exempted from furlough, the bureau “will cease all renewable energy activities but continue limited work on conventional and marine minerals based on available resources.”
As part of the shutdown, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management expects to furlough more than 70 percent of its workforce, but it will retain staff funded by carryover accounts to continue “priority conventional energy projects.” These include offshore oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf of America and Alaska under the Outer Continental Shelf leasing program, as well as preparation for future offshore critical minerals lease sales.
Some conventional energy and marine minerals work—such as planning and environmental analysis—will be suspended unless they meet priority thresholds or are not time-sensitive.
“As available funding is diminished, adjustments will be made to limit work to time-sensitive matters,” states the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plan, with the adjustment process to continue through the duration of the government shutdown.
The contingency plans reflect the Trump administration’s broader focus on fossil fuel development while scaling back federal support for renewable energy. During his first term, Trump ensured that oil and gas permitting continued even through the 34-day shutdown in 2018–2019. In contrast, during the 2013 shutdown, President Barack Obama’s administration canceled at least one oil and gas lease auction and temporarily halted federal drilling permits.
Some environmental groups voiced opposition to the Trump administration’s decision to continue permitting for oil and gas and other conventional resources deemed to be a priority.
“The Trump admin is doing this because they care more about providing a steady stream of profits to Trump’s fossil fuel donors than providing clean, affordable energy to working people,” advocacy group Oil Change International said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed Democrats for refusing to back the Republican stopgap spending measure, leading to the government shutdown.
“They blocked my department from timely confirmation of our leadership to keep our country secure and drive down energy prices, and now they’re shutting down the government because they didn’t get their way,” Wright wrote in a social media post.
Wright added that the Energy Department remains “committed to carrying out President Trump’s agenda of delivering affordable, reliable and secure energy to the American people.”
