Top congressional Republicans have accused Democrat President Joe Biden of “abusing” the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to help his re-election campaign.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), two of the most influential GOP lawmakers in the energy sector, have criticized the Biden administration for “its political abuse and misuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
In a letter to Biden’s Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Barrasso and Rodgers accused the administration of having “abused” the SPR for political objectives, The Washington Examiner reported.
Rogers serves as the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Barrasso is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
“We write with concerns about the Biden administration’s mismanagement of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR),” they wrote.
“The SPR is a strategic national asset that is intended to be used in times of national emergencies, such as wars and natural disasters.”
In the week leading up to the Fourth of July, President Biden made the announcement that 1 million barrels of gasoline would be released “to reduce prices at the pump.”
During the announcement made by the White House, it was said