Scalise applauds High Court’s reversal of pipeline construction injunction

U.S. House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) this week joined several colleagues in commending a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to reverse the nationwide injunction on pipeline construction.

“This overly broad and unlawful nationwide injunction created uncertainty for dozens of pipeline projects across the country that support well-paying jobs and bring affordable and reliable American energy resources to households, consumers and our allies around the world,” Rep. Scalise and the lawmakers said in a joint statement released on July 7.

Specifically, Rep. Scalise and U.S. Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said they support the Supreme Court’s reversal of the nationwide injunction on pipeline construction under Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Opponents of American energy dominance have repeatedly abused our court system to delay and drive up the cost of energy infrastructure projects, including those with regulatory approval such as the Atlantic Coast, Keystone XL, and Dakota Access pipelines,” the lawmakers said. “We hope courts will reject the ongoing challenges to these pipelines and [NWP] 12 so our energy producers can get back to work and drive our economy as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Previously, Rep. Scalise and his colleagues sent a May 7 letter to Attorney General William Barr in support of the U.S. Department of Justice’s opposition to nationwide injunctions and its effort to challenge the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana’s nationwide injunction of NWP 12.

“The NWP 12 authorizes utility line construction, maintenance or repair conducted in waters of the United States,” they wrote. “If this order is applied nationally, it would have a devastating effect on thousands of projects.”

The Corps, they added, “would be prohibited from quickly authorizing activity related to linear infrastructure projects across multiple sectors of the economy involving any pipeline, drinking water line, cable line, or wire for the transmission of electricity, energy, telephone, and television.”

The lawmakers also called the issuance of a nationwide injunction by a district court “an unconstitutional assertion of judicial authority that exceeds principles of equitable relief.”