House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took to X on Wednesday to slam President Joe Biden for liquidating the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR), a regional reserve of 1 million barrels intended to be an emergency supply of fuel for northeastern states.
"It’s clear that the Biden Administration only cares about the American people’s concerns when it’s time to beg for their votes. Disgraceful," wrote Johnson.
There's just one problem, as a lot of people pointed out: Johnson himself approved this selloff of the NGSR, as part of one of the recent bipartisan appropriations deal.
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This plan was detailed in March by Newsweek: "Under a bill providing funding for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the fiscal year, a million barrels of the government's strategic reserve of petroleum would be sold off — the same amount as in the NGSR, which is located in New York Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts and South Portland, Maine," after which the NGSR would be shut down, and the bill was "the result of cross-party negotiations."
Patrick de Haan, an oil industry expert who heads up petroleum analysis for Gas Buddy, raised another point: "Why u mad? It was the Trump administration's idea." He posted an earlier report from the Trump administration proposing the idea, which stated, "The NGSR is very costly to maintain, has not been used for its intended purpose, and is not a practical solution for a severe supply interruption, as, for example, the reserve would only be able to meet one day's worth of gasoline demand in the Northeast States."
Other commenters on social media slammed Johnson for his outrage over a measure that he helped pass.
"Lol you put this in the budget that YOU passed," wrote the account @BlackKnight10k. "Here they go blaming the administration, instead of themselves.
"Mike Johnson and Congress approved this sale in the appropriations bill," wrote the account @JillianMHurley.
"Wow. He’s such a lying liar who lies," wrote the account @PeonyPrincess27.
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