Call today - stop this bill

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!

More than 200 groups, organizations as diverse as Animal Commons, the Archaeological Institute of America, Public Citizen, Detention Watch Network, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Earthjustice, the Wilderness Society, and the ACLU, are sounding the alarm about the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) of 2026, S. 5653.  

A cloture vote is schedule for MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, so immediate action is required. 

According to Earthjustice, the bill would

• Lessen our ability to protect endangered and threatened species by undermining the core functions of the Endangered Species Act
• Severely limit state and Tribal authority to prevent harm to waters and wetlands, including when it comes to projects like oil pipelines and data centers
• Alter the scope and efficacy of the National Historic Preservation Act, limiting the ability of Tribal nations, states, and other stakeholders to protect culturally important sites and landscapes 
• Allow for expansive mining projects on public lands and construction of supporting infrastructure with fewer permitting requirements and less oversight
• Restrict the public’s access to the courts to challenge projects that threaten clean water, public health, biodiversity, and historic places
• Fast-track developing data centers on public lands along with the polluting gas infrastructure needed to power them 

Provisions in the bill would make it nearly impossible to challenge, change, or rescind permits.  

The ACLU has sounded the alarm because the bill could also lead to the expansion of ICE detention centers.

Listen to Ayana Elizabeth Johbnson and Bill McKibben discuss the problems with the current bill and why it would be better to abandon it until the new Congress (start at 32:15) in this edition of their podcast, What If We Get It Right? Read McKibben's analysis. 

"John Podesta explained that BAAJA would be like handing Trump a 'loaded howitzer.'"

A Senate vote on a motion invoking cloture, which will require 60 votes to pass, is scheduled for November 9.  

An updated version of the BAAJA was released on Saturday morning, November 7, but the bill is hundreds of pages long and pushing forward with a vote before people have a chance to compare the new version against the old is undemocratic. Especially after the midterm elections, rushing a controversial bill through that has so many red flags seems tone deaf to be kind.

Use this 5Calls.org script to make your calls TODAY. 

Call Senator Baldwin (202-224-5653) and tell her to VOTE NO on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) of 2026, S. 5653 to give people time to read and understand the amendments. 

Call Sen. Johnson, 202-224-5323, and tell him to vote no. 

Call the two Democratic co-sponsors and tell them to hold the bill until the new Congress is sworn in. Sen. Whitehouse, 202-224-2921 and Sen. Heinrich, 202-224-5521.