WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the federal government shut down, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is postponing several of its public meetings on the proposed five-year offshore leasing program.

The bureau issued a notice Monday that, due to the federal shutdown on Jan. 20, public meetings scheduled for Monday through Thursday on the proposed 2019-2024 national outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program have been postponed to a date to be announced. These meetings, however, don’t include the one scheduled for Monday, Feb. 26, in Raleigh.

However, the bureau’s notice indicates that the longer the shutdown lasts, the more meetings will have to be rescheduled.

“If the government shutdown continues, any public meetings scheduled during that time also will be rescheduled,” the bureau said. Once the government reopens, postponed meetings’ status will be updated on the website www.boem.gov/National-Program-Participate/#meeting.

The proposed offshore leasing program has created a lot of controversy, in particular regarding potential impacts to the environment and coastal economies. N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper has openly stated his opposition to offshore oil and gas exploration off North Carolina’s coast, and has requested the state be removed from the draft program, as have the governors of Florida and South Carolina.

Environmentalists, include those local to Carteret County, have voiced strong opposition to the proposed leasing program. Their primary concerns, which have been stated over the years at various public meetings, have been the potential damage to the marine environment from oil spills and seismic airgun blasts used to search for oil and gas deposits, as well as the potential to drive tourists away from the coast, which has an economy heavily dependent on tourism.

Shutdown Enters Workweek

The Associated Press reports that while the congressional Senate has gotten closer to an agreement to reopen federal agencies, its latest round of negotiations “fell short” and the government shutdown continues.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said negotiations lasted late into the night, with a vote to break a Democratic filibuster on a short-term funding bill scheduled for noon Monday. Under the proposal taking shape, Democrats would agree to a three-week spending measure - until Thursday, Feb. 8 - in return for a commitment from the Republican leadership in the Senate to address immigration policy and other pressing legislative matters in the coming weeks.

But Democrats appeared to be holding out for a firmer commitment from Sen. McConnell. "We have yet to reach an agreement on a path forward," Sen. Schumer said late Sunday.



President Donald Trump on Monday accused Democrats of prioritizing services and security for noncitizens over U.S. citizens. “Not good,” his first tweet said. In a second tweet, he said, “Democrats have shut down our government in the interests of their far left base. They don't want to do it but are powerless!”

President Trump’s first tweet appeared to undercut comments by his legislative affairs director, Marc Short, who told CNN that the immigrants in question are law-abiding and “productive to our society.” Mr. Short says the administration wants to “find a pathway for them” to stay in the U.S.


Although they initially dug in on a demand for an immigration deal, Democrats had shifted to blaming the shutdown on the incompetence of Republicans and President Trump, seeming sensitive to being seen by voters as willing to tie up government operations to protect immigrants.


Democrats are facing intense pressure from their base to solve the issue over the young immigrants, commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” and they are skeptical of Republicans' credibility when offering to take up the issue. Whether President Trump would back the emerging plan or any later proposal on immigration is an open question.




The emerging approach found advocates in South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been trying to broker an immigration deal, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Republicans who rejected an earlier short-term proposal. GOP Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, another previous no-vote, announced he would vote in favor of reopening the government Monday.

Sen. Graham said no deal had been reached by the moderate group because Democrats were not yet on board. “To my Democratic friends, don't overplay your hand,” he told reporters. “A government shutdown is not a good way to get an outcome legislatively.”

The vote Monday will prove to be a test of unity and resolve among Democrats. Five Democrats from states won by President Trump broke ranks in a vote Friday. The measure gained 50 votes to proceed to 49 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster.

Reporter Mike Shutak contributed to this article.

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