The Biden administration backed Mountain Valley Pipeline developers’ request for the Supreme Court to vacate a lower court’s order halting construction on the project Friday.
Pipeline developers filed an emergency petition with Chief Justice John Roberts last week asking the Supreme Court to vacate an order halting construction, which the Fourth Circuit issued despite Congress passing a law guaranteeing its completion and transferring litigation to the D.C. Circuit. The Biden administration told the Supreme Court Friday that it should grant the developer’s application.
“Whatever benefit respondents or the court of appeals might believe would be gained by having the agencies again reconsider the challenged actions, Congress has determined that further reconsideration is unwarranted and has prioritized MVP’s ‘timely’ completion over interests addressed by any other federal statutes,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Preloger wrote in the Biden administration’s response.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal with President Joe Biden required agencies to permit construction of the pipeline and stripped courts of jurisdiction to review agency approval actions. (RELATED: SCOTUS Asked To Decide Fate Of Pivotal Pipeline After Federal Court Opposes Congress And Halts Construction)
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 20: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. Manchin spoke on energy permitting reform and preventing a government shutdown.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court Tuesday also backing the Mountain Valley Pipeline developers’ emergency application.
“I was proud to help ensure that the Mountain Valley Pipeline would finally be completed through ratification and approval of the project’s permits without further judicial review in the Fiscal Responsibility Act,” Manchin said in a statement. “But, yet again, this vital energy infrastructure project has been put on hold by the Fourth Circuit despite the new law clearly stating that the Fourth Circuit no longer has this authority.”
“It’s a shame when members of Congress have to ask the Supreme Court to intervene to maintain the credibility of the laws that we have passed and the President has signed, but I am confident that the Court will uphold our laws and allow construction of MVP to resume,” he continued.
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