License to Drill Act

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit authority over federal property under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, the Property Clause, which grants Congress power to dispose of and make all needful rules respecting territory and other property belonging to the United States. Regulating oil and gas permits on Bureau of Land Management lands and setting related processing fees is a direct exercise of that power, supported by the Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 authority to make laws necessary to carry it into execution.

Bill of Rights · passes

No speech, religion, press, assembly, arms, search, trial, or other Bill of Rights interest is restricted. The bill only continues an existing permit processing fee for oil and gas applications on federal lands. It creates no prohibition on expression under the First Amendment, no search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and no taking under the Fifth Amendment.

Individual liberty · passes

No person is compelled to seek a federal oil and gas drilling permit. The fee applies only when an applicant voluntarily seeks use of federal lands. It does not restrict belief, speech, labor, or private property use, and the modest cost-recovery condition is justified by the need to process applications on public lands.

Decentralization · passes

Management of federally owned lands is inherently a federal function. An individual, county, or state cannot administer permits for federal property owned by the United States. The bill does not move new authority upward; it merely extends existing Bureau of Land Management fee collection through FY2037 for processing permits, the minimum level capable of managing federal lands.

Due process and takings · passes

No deprivation of life, liberty, or property without process under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. The fee is tied to a voluntary application for a new permit and funds permit processing, with notice through statute. It is a user fee for a government service, not a seizure or a physical or regulatory taking requiring just compensation under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause.