WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak says President Donald Trump’s message Tuesday morning was simple.
“He was very blunt, he was very direct and had great stories,” she said in an interview with The Flag’s Scott Hennen. “But his message was, ‘Let’s get this done.’ And that’s what we have to do.”
The ‘this’ Fedorchak is referencing Trump talked about is the ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’
She says the legislation is ‘historic’ and includes policy changes, along with ‘big reductions in costs for government.’
“There’s great tax reform, great tax relief and regulatory relief,” Fedorchak said. “And investments in key initiatives like our military, the border.”
Wins for North Dakota energy
North Dakota’s energy sector stands to gain if Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is passed, Fedorchak said.
“There’s some permitting reform, there’s elimination of the EV mandate,” she said. The EV mandate is important because it allows choice for vehicle owners.
Beyond the bill, the regulatory relief the Trump Administration is putting in motion ‘is real,’ Fedorchak said.
The tax policy will also impact the industry.
“The whole tax policy is something that we hear over and over again from the energy industry is that we need certainty there,” she said. “We need to be able to know that we’re investing and can write off our expenses for R&D, etc. Those are really huge signals to be sending to our energy industry now.”
Fedorchak says that she feels confident that federal permitting of CO2 pipelines will be in the final version of the bill, even with concerns coming from her counterparts in South Dakota.
“It’s an attempt at permitting reform,” she said. “But it’s important to note that, even with that measure, this is not green lighting those proposals, those projects. It simply gives them another alternative for permitting, and then they would be kicked into the federal permitting process, which is pretty extensive and exhaustive.”
AI Data Centers in North Dakota
Fedorchak says there’s ‘unprecedented demand’ for artificial intelligence facilities in North Dakota.
“We have all the components,” she said. “We have cheap energy, and a lot of it; we have cold weather; we have water; and we have a great regulatory environment. So we should be winning in this area. We should be getting a lot of interest from these big AI investors to our state. And it would be a huge benefit to North Dakota, because it would help us use up some of that gas that we have, in excess, and not need the pipeline capacity or as much of it.”
