The bill
CORE Act of 2025
HR. 2556, 119th Congress — read as touching Oil & Gas.
Sponsored by
Rep. Hunt, Wesley [R-TX-38]
ID: H001095
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 2556, 119th Congress — read as touching Oil & Gas.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
20 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 554-556 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18.
June 24, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
(sigh) Oh joy, another "comprehensive" bill from our esteemed lawmakers, because what we really need is more bureaucracy and regulatory theater.
Let's dissect this mess, shall we? The CORE Act of 2025 is a masterclass in obfuscation, with a title that sounds like it was written by a committee of sleep-deprived interns. "Comprehensive Offshore Resource Enhancement"? Give me a break. This bill is about one thing: expanding offshore drilling and exploration, while pretending to care about the environment and national security.
New regulations being created or modified? Oh boy, where do I even start? The bill establishes a framework for regular review and standardization of offshore resource exploration methodologies, because God forbid we have any consistency in our regulatory approach. It also creates new reporting requirements for transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs, which is just a fancy way of saying "we want to know more about the oil and gas reserves near our borders so we can exploit them."
Affected industries and sectors? Well, it's not like this bill was written by lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry or anything (cough). The offshore drilling and exploration industries will be thrilled with the new opportunities for exploitation...I mean, "resource enhancement." Meanwhile, environmental groups will be apoplectic about the lack of meaningful protections.
Compliance requirements and timelines? Ha! Good luck figuring out what's actually required here. The bill is a maze of bureaucratic jargon and vague deadlines. I'm sure the Secretaries of Energy, Interior, and State will have a blast trying to coordinate their efforts and submit reports on time.
Enforcement mechanisms and penalties? (laughs) Oh, please. This bill is all about "enhancing cooperation" and "coordination" between government agencies and industry stakeholders. Translation: we'll slap some wrists if anyone gets caught breaking the rules, but don't worry, it's all just a big game of regulatory theater.
Economic and operational impacts? Well, let's just say this bill is a gift to the fossil fuel industry, with potential economic benefits that will likely be outweighed by the environmental costs. But hey, who needs to think about the long-term consequences when there are short-term gains to be had?
In conclusion, the CORE Act of 2025 is a classic case of regulatory capture, where special interests have hijacked the legislative process to serve their own agendas. It's a bill that will make our politicians look good while doing nothing meaningful to address the real challenges facing our country.
Diagnosis: Terminal stupidity, with symptoms including bureaucratic obfuscation, regulatory capture, and a complete disregard for environmental and social consequences. Prognosis: poor. Treatment: a healthy dose of skepticism and a strong stomach for the inevitable fallout.
Rep. Hunt, Wesley [R-TX-38]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No organization contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 1 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: B001323
Top Contributors
10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 42 nodes and 23 connections (49 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $99,535
Showing top 17 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.
Section 2(b)(1)(A) requires assessment of transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs for exploration, development, and production; Section 2(c)(1)(B) mandates updating models for inventory and analysis of offshore oil and gas resources; Section 3 requires comparative analysis of offshore oil and gas production practices. These provisions support offshore oil and gas exploration and production, benefiting the oil and gas industry.
The bill's focus on assessing and standardizing offshore hydrocarbon resource exploration and production (Sections 2 and 3) implies support for midstream infrastructure needed to transport, process, and export offshore oil and gas, benefiting pipeline and energy infrastructure companies.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Hunt, Wesley [R-TX-38])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
— 522 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise similar agency actions made in compliance with that order.18 Meanwhile, the new Administration must immediately reinstate the following Trump DOI sec- retarial orders: l SO 3348: Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium;19 l SO 3349: American Energy Independence;20 l SO 3350: America-First Offshore Energy Strategy;21 l SO 3351: Strengthening the Department of the Interior’s Energy Portfolio;22 l SO 3352: National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska;23 l SO 3354: Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program;24 l SO 3355: Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects”;25 l SO 3358: Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting;26 l SO 3360: Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary’s Order 3349, “American Energy Independence;”27 l SO 3380: Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents;28 l SO 3385: Enforcement Priorities;29 and l SO 3389: Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews.30 Actions. At the same time, the new Administration must: l Reinstate quarterly onshore lease sales in all producing states according to the model of BLM’s IM 2018–034, with the slight adjustment of including expanded public notice and comment.31 The new Administration should work with Congress on legislation, such as the Lease Now Act32 and — 523 — Department of the Interior ONSHORE Act,33 to increase state participation and federal accountability for energy production on the federal estate. l Conduct offshore oil and natural gas lease sales to the maximum extent permitted under the 2023–2028 lease program,34 with the possibility to move forward under a previously studied but unselected plan alternative.35 l Develop immediately and finalize a new five-year plan, while working with Congress to reform the OCSLA by eliminating five-year plans in favor of rolling or quarterly lease sales. l Review all resource management plans finalized in the previous four years and, when necessary, select studied alternatives to restore the multi-use concept enshrined in FLPMA and to eliminate management decisions that advance the 30 by 30 agenda. l Set rents, royalty rates, and bonding requirements to no higher than what is required under the Inflation Reduction Act.36 l Comply with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to establish a competitive leasing and development program in the Coastal Plain, an area of Alaska that was set aside by Congress specifically for future oil and gas exploration and development. It is often referred to as the “Section 1002 Area” after the section of ANILCA that excludes the area from Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s wilderness designation.37 l Conclude the programmatic review of the coal leasing program, and work with the congressional delegations and governors of Wyoming and Montana to restart the program immediately.38 l Abandon withdrawals of lands from leasing in the Thompson Divide of the White River National Forest, Colorado; the 10-mile buffer around Chaco Cultural Historic National Park in New Mexico (restoring the compromise forged in the Arizona Wilderness Act39); and the Boundary Waters area in northern Minnesota if those withdrawals have not been completed.40 Meanwhile, revisit associated leases and permits for energy and mineral production in these areas in consultation with state elected officials. l Require regional offices to complete right-of-way and drilling permits within the average time it takes states in the region to complete them.
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.
Tradeable Energy Performance Standards Act
Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers".
Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to "Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters".