Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is continuing to hammer away at the Biden administration’s energy policy after the Interior Department proposed offering just three offshore oil lease sales through 2029 as part of a new five-year plan. The previous plan called for 11 such sales.

Manchin, chair of the Energy Committee, called the proposal “a failure of leadership” and said the administration “would have ended federal oil and gas development completely” without the Manchin-led Inflation Reduction Act.

“To be clear — three lease sales is more than the zero we would have gotten had it not been for the IRA,” Manchin, up for reelection in 2024, said in a statement. “But it makes no sense at all to actively be limiting our energy production while our adversaries are weaponizing energy around the world.”

The broader picture: Under the proposal, no lease sales would take place in 2024 in the Gulf of Mexico or the waters off Alaska — a first such pause in four decades. The administration would instead slate one lease sale each for 2025, 2027 and 2029, a decision already provoking anger from Republicans and industry groups.

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