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Senator Shelley Moore Capito introduces S. 5653: Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026

Investivoq LegislationRadar

We have received text from S. 5653: Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. This bill was received on 2026-09-30, and currently has 3 cosponsors.

Here is a short summary of the bill:

The bill would make major changes to how federal agencies review and approve projects under environmental and permitting laws, with the goal of speeding up decisions and reducing delays.

Environmental review and permitting process

It would overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process by requiring federal agencies to use tighter deadlines, assign a lead agency for reviews, coordinate more closely with cooperating agencies, and rely more often on existing state, tribal, or prior federal environmental documents. It would expand the use of categorical exclusions , which are categories of projects that can be approved with less review because they are considered to have limited environmental impact. The bill also limits delays caused by requests for new information and narrows what counts as a “major Federal action” subject to full review.

The bill would also create standardized digital systems for environmental review and permitting, including an electronic NEPA data system, a federal permitting tracker, and a unified authorization portal. Agencies would have to report more information about their compliance with deadlines and review requirements. A Permitting Improvement Fund would support the new systems and related processing.

Limits on review and litigation

The bill would shorten deadlines for agency decisions and for court challenges to permits and environmental approvals. It would also narrow the scope of judicial review, making it harder to challenge certain permitting decisions after set deadlines have passed. In some areas, it would create fast-track legal remedies for project delays, including the possibility of damages when permits are denied or delayed without meeting the bill’s standards.

Water, wetlands, and species protections

The bill would change permitting under the Clean Water Act by making water-quality certification more structured, lengthening some NPDES permit terms, and limiting delays in dredge-and-fill permit decisions. It would tighten the timeline for wetlands-related reviews and create nationwide permits for certain smaller projects.

For endangered species matters, the bill would speed up consultation timelines and allow states to take over some federal consultation responsibilities if they enter approved agreements with the federal government. Those state-run programs would be subject to audits, reporting requirements, and possible termination.

Energy, transmission, hydropower, geothermal, and offshore projects

The bill would streamline permitting for a wide range of energy infrastructure, including transmission lines, pipelines, hydropower, geothermal projects, offshore transmission, and certain grid upgrades. It expands federal authority, especially at FERC, over transmission planning, cost allocation, and siting. It would also reduce or eliminate NEPA review for some existing-rights-of-way upgrades, reconductoring, and pipeline modernization projects.

In transmission planning, FERC would be directed to oversee regional planning, limit federal rights of first refusal in some cases, and require data centers and other high-density electricity users to pay more directly for the transmission costs they create. The bill would also allow certain behind-the-meter distributed energy aggregations to participate in wholesale power markets if they meet eligibility rules.

For hydropower, the bill would require FERC to classify certain changes to projects more efficiently and streamline licensing for micro-hydrokinetic projects, while keeping dam safety oversight in place.

For geothermal energy, it would speed up leasing and drilling approvals, create an ombudsman and task force, publish a federal geothermal guidance book, reduce some NEPA review requirements, and allow certain non-federal geothermal activities to proceed without federal permits. It would also allow agencies to recover some processing and inspection costs.

Mining and abandoned mine work

The bill would expand certain hardrock mining rules, including mill-site provisions, and create an Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund to support cleanup-related work.

Historic preservation

The bill would shorten and narrow historic preservation review under federal law. Agencies would focus only on properties in a project’s area of effect, could rely more on NEPA documents and programmatic agreements, and would face tighter deadlines and streamlined court review. It would also authorize funding for the Historic Preservation Fund and for tribal historic preservation databases.

Agency operations and data collection

The bill would require annual reviews of compensation plans for certain federal agencies and power agencies, allow some hiring outside normal civil service rules, and require the Energy Information Administration to collect more data on electricity demand from data centers.

Relevant Companies

  • NEE - NextEra Energy could be affected by faster transmission, renewable, and grid permitting.
  • DUK - Duke Energy may be impacted by transmission planning and grid expansion provisions.
  • SO - Southern Company could see effects from changes to transmission, generation, and permitting timelines.
  • EXC - Exelon may be affected by transmission and market-access changes.
  • PWR - Quanta Services could benefit from faster permitting for transmission and grid projects.
  • ETN - Eaton could be affected by accelerated grid modernization and transmission investment.
  • GEV - GE Vernova may be impacted by transmission, grid, and power infrastructure changes.
  • FCX - Freeport-McMoRan could be affected by mining-related permitting and mine-site provisions.
  • WMB - Williams Companies may be affected by changes to pipeline permitting and review timelines.
  • AMRC - Ameresco could be impacted by streamlined distributed energy and grid-related permitting.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito Bill Proposals

Here are some bills which have recently been proposed by Senator Shelley Moore Capito:

  • S.5653: Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026
  • S.5243: A bill to provide for the automatic establishment of Trump accounts using information collected under the Enumeration at Birth Program of the Social Security Administration.
  • S.5207: RCORP Authorization Act
  • S.4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
  • S.4221: Ensuring Better Interest Treatment and Deductibility Act (EBITDA)
  • S.4036: AADAPT Act

You can track bills proposed by Senator Shelley Moore Capito on Investivoq's politician page for Capito.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito Net Worth

Investivoq estimates that Senator Shelley Moore Capito is worth $5.0M, as of October 9th, 2026. This is the 171st highest net worth in Congress, per our live estimates.

Capito has approximately $2.5M invested in publicly traded assets which Investivoq is able to track live.

You can track Senator Shelley Moore Capito's net worth on Investivoq's politician page for Capito.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito Stock Trading

We have data on up to $13.0M of trades from Senator Shelley Moore Capito, which we parsed from STOCK Act filings. Some of the largest trades include:

  • A March 3rd, 2021 purchase of up to $250K of $UBSI. The stock has risen 17.18% since then.
  • A September 18th, 2025 sale of up to $50K of $MSFT. The stock has risen 2.78% since then.
  • A September 18th, 2025 sale of up to $50K of $AAPL. The stock has risen 43.11% since then.
  • A December 29th, 2023 sale of up to $50K of $TFC. The stock has risen 25.08% since then.
  • A December 15th, 2020 sale of up to $50K of $WFC. The stock has risen 175.92% since then.

You can track Senator Shelley Moore Capito's stock trading on Investivoq's politician page for Capito.

2026 West Virginia US Senate Election

There has been approximately $10,003,342 of spending in West Virginia US Senate elections over the last two years, per our estimates.

Approximately $604,863 of this has been from outside spending by PACs and Super PACs. Some of the groups who are spending money in this race include:

  • TAKE ME HOME WV ACTION ($386,725)
  • AMERICAN MISSION ($210,193)
  • NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA POLITICAL VICTORY FUND ($7,928)

The rating for this race is currently "Solid R".

You can track this election on our matchup page for the 2026 West Virginia US Senate election.

This article is not financial advice. See Investivoq's disclaimers for more information.