GOP Rips Jeffries for Saying Gas Prices Hadn't Come Up at Dem Meetings, Deplores 'War on US Energy'

Earlier, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters at a Tuesday press conference that the issue of soaring gas prices "hadn’t come up" during his party’s caucus meetings, feeding the chorus of GOP indignation over Joe Biden’s failure to “ensure American energy independence.”

Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has blasted President Joe Biden and the House Democrats for their “war on American energy," accusing them of being “out of touch” with the crises facing the US population.

Warning that gas prices were “at an all-time high” because the current administration had failed to unleash US energy dominance or shed dependence on “foreign adversaries for oil,” the House Republican Conference chairwoman blasted her Democratic counterpart and admitted that high gas prices “hadn’t come up” during House Democrat caucus meetings.

US Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) of Brooklyn, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, had made the remark to reporters at a Tuesday press conference when asked what the Democrats were saying on the issue.

"But I think increasing the global oil supply, at the moment, to the extent that there are implications, particularly for Europe, which is more heavily reliant upon Russian oil than we are here in the United States of America. You know, it’s an important discussion," Jeffries added.

"Americans across the country are feeling this pain daily. Hakeem Jeffries' comments that this issue didn't even come up during today's House Democrats caucus meeting shows how out of touch they are with the crises facing the American people," Stefanik said in a statement for Fox News Digital.

The GOP congresswoman also promised that once the hen Republicans “take back the House” during the November midterm elections, they would “work to unleash America's energy dominance to drive down prices at the pump and end the financial suffering Americans face daily because of Biden and House Democrats' failed far-left agenda."

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., also took issue with Jeffries’ comments.

He was amazed that while Americans were paying record prices at the pump, Democrats failed to even discuss a plan to tackle the surging prices.

"We need to unleash American energy to lower prices here at home and support our allies abroad, Huizenga was cited as saying.

When asked if, indeed, the issue of rising gas prices had not come up in caucus meetings, a spokesperson for Hakeem Jeffries was later cited by the outlet as saying "comments from the presser speak for themselves."

‘Blow to US Energy Independence’

Elise Stefanik, meanwhile, also released a statement after the Biden administration announced it will ban Russian oil, saying the move was another “blow to American energy independence.”

In a nod towards reports that US administration officials were in negotiations with Venezuela as a possible alternative supplier of energy, she said:

“This will only make America more reliant on its adversaries. We must unleash American energy dominance and no longer depend on our foreign adversaries for oil and gas."

Echoing sentiments that had been voiced by Republicans ever since President Biden took office last year, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, ripped the current occupant of the White House for opting to “rather fund terrorism" that bolster American energy independence.

"They could solve it themselves, and I have recently introduced legislation that would restore American energy independence. Instead of taking those options, they want to purchase oil from places like Iran and Venezuela. They would rather fund terrorism and the worst regimes on the planet… It’s appalling," Cruz was quoted as saying by Fox News.

Cruz announced on Friday his new bill, the Energy Freedom Act, in a press release where he again levelled a barrage of criticism at Biden for having led America to lose “our status as a net petroleum exporter."

This comes as President Joe Biden signed an executive order on 8 March, instituting a near-total ban on Russian energy supplies, vowing that the prohibition of Russia-sourced oil and gas would deal “another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”

While the POTUS admitted that the decision would incur “costs” on Americans, he suggested that “defending freedom has a cost.”

Russia accounts for about 20 percent of global natural gas production, and about 10 percent of the world’s oil supplies. Energy prices soared dramatically in recent days from the prospect of a partial loss of Russia’s massive oil and gas output.

US gasoline prices reached a new national record on Tuesday of $4.17 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.

The US Department of Energy earlier revealed it intended to partially offset the loss of Russian oil by increasing domestic crude production by 60,000 bpd by the end of 2022 to 12.03 million bpd total.

Furthermore, the shortfall is also expected to be replaced, in part, via imports possibly from Saudi Arabia, Iran or Venezuela, with the latter two nations suffering under crippling Washington sanctions.

Russia itself has officially turned into the most heavily sanctioned nation in the world, according to astellum.ai, a sanction tracking service, after the sweeping new restrictions placed on Russia by the West over the crisis in Ukraine.

Moscow began a military operation "to demilitarise and de-Nazify" Ukraine on 24 February after weeks of escalating shelling, sabotage, and sniper attacks by Ukrainian forces against the Donbass republics, whose predominantly Russian-speaking population has been subjected to “abuse, genocide… for eight years."

Established in the spring of 2014 in response to the Western-backed coup in Kiev, the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics (LPR, DPR) refused to accept the overthrow of the country’s legitimate government and its allegedly ultranationalist and pro-western forces.

In February, Russia formally recognised the DPR and LPR, and launched its special military operation after the Donbass republics’ authorities asked for assistance to defend themselves from continued attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the goal of the current operation was to neutralise Ukraine's military capacity and not harm the civilian population of the country.

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