Biden’s Oil-Reserve Withdrawals Spark Republican Demand for Audit
A contractor works at the Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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Top Republicans want a government watchdog to investigate the Biden administration’s management of the nation’s emergency oil reserves, arguing no credible plan exists to refill the cache that now stands at a 40-year low.
In a letter sent Monday to the Government Accountability Office, GOP lawmakers demanded a wide-ranging audit that would examine whether the Biden administration’s historic release of oil from the cache following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine damaged the subterranean storage system. They also want details on a now-paused plan to modernize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.