Iran War and U.S. Energy Policy

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged former President Trump to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas prices, while reminding critics that in early 2020 he and other Democrats blocked Trump’s roughly $3 billion plan to use COVID stimulus funds to buy oil at about $29/barrel to refill the SPR. The reserve stood at about 415 million barrels at the end of Biden’s term (well under its 700‑million‑plus capacity) after two Biden‑era drawdowns tied to COVID price shocks and the early Ukraine war, and the White House — via spokeswoman Taylor Rogers — accused Schumer of championing a “Green New Scam” even as Schumer had supported Biden’s 2021 SPR release and later purchases to rebuild stocks.