Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer now wants President Trump to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the same stockpile he blocked Trump from filling when oil cost $29 a barrel.
The New York Democrat urged Trump to release oil from the SPR as crude prices spiked past $110 per barrel over the weekend, the first time since 2022. The price surge followed escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking. During Trump's first term, the president tried to use about $3 billion from a COVID-19 stimulus package to fill the reserve at bargain prices. Schumer and congressional Democrats killed that plan, calling it a "bailout" for the oil industry. Now Schumer wants to drain the very reserves he refused to stock.
Schumer argued in a statement that the reserve "exists for moments exactly like this." He then aimed squarely at the White House:
"When wars and global crises disrupt energy markets, the United States has the ability to act, but President Trump and his administration are refusing to do so."
He went further, as Newsmax reported, taking to social media to demand Trump release oil "IMMEDIATELY to bring relief to Americans at the pump."
But Schumer couldn't resist tipping his hand on the real agenda. While calling the SPR release "much-needed temporary relief at the pump," he added this:
"Of course, the only long-term solution to rising gas prices is to continue our march to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels and create a robust green energy economy."
There it is. Drain the reserve now, kill fossil fuels later.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers didn't mince words in a statement to Fox News Digital:
"Senator Schumer championed Joe Biden's Green New Scam, which raised energy costs, threatened our national security, and stifled American energy independence."
Rogers added that "President Trump has been unleashing American energy dominance since day one, and now, American oil and gas production is at record highs."
The administration has no public plans to tap the reserve. And the numbers explain why caution makes sense.
The SPR can hold over 700 million barrels of crude oil. Under Biden, it was tapped twice:
By the end of Biden's term, the reserve held about 415 million barrels, far below capacity, according to Department of Energy data. Biden's team bought back some barrels toward the end, but the damage was done.
Schumer lauded Biden's first SPR release in 2021. Republicans at the time criticized the move as politically motivated. Now Schumer wants the same playbook, from a president he opposes, for a conflict his caucus has challenged at every turn.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright laid out a different approach. He argued the best path to lower prices runs through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments, by neutralizing Iran's ability to target tankers.
Wright told Fox News over the weekend the disruption would last "weeks, certainly not months."
"We believe this is a small price to pay to get to a world where energy prices will return back to where they were."
Wright framed the endgame in strategic terms:
"Iran will finally be defanged, and now you can see more investment, more free flow of trade, and less ability to threaten energy supplies."
That's a long-term fix, not a short-term political Band-Aid.
Meanwhile, Newsmax reported that the national average for regular gasoline hit $3.32 a gallon, up 11% from the previous week. Trump said he was not looking to tap the SPR, while administration officials defended a 30-day waiver allowing Indian purchases of Russian oil to ease market pressure.
Schumer's record on the SPR follows a simple rule: whatever hurts the sitting Republican president, do that. When Trump wanted to fill the reserve at rock-bottom prices, Schumer blocked it. When Biden wanted to drain it for political cover, Schumer cheered. Now that prices spike on Trump's watch, Schumer demands a release.
This isn't energy policy. It's partisan gamesmanship dressed up as concern for families at the pump.
Senate Democrats have spent recent weeks losing vote after vote as Republicans hold the line on the administration's Middle East posture. Schumer's SPR demand fits the pattern, loud objections, no workable alternatives.
The man who blocked a $29-per-barrel fill-up now demands a drawdown at $110. Taxpayers can do the math, even if Chuck Schumer won't.
