Language blocking a ban on gas stoves has been incorporated into a bipartisan Senate appropriations bill, giving it a significant chance to ultimately become law.
A bill that would prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning the products was incorporated into a funding bill for “Financial Services and General Government” Thursday.
The head of the consumer safety commission has indicated that it is not looking to ban gas stoves, but the topic has still been heated in Washington.
The amendment was approved as part of a larger manager’s amendment containing several other additions to the bill. It was approved in a committee voice vote without significant debate.
The bill was advanced Thursday out of committee to the full Senate, where it will effectively need 60 votes to pass.
The House and Senate are both carrying out their own appropriations processes, so if a bill passes one chamber, it is not necessarily guaranteed to become law.
However, provisions blocking a gas stove ban would likely not face significant opposition in the House, which has already passed a bill to do so as a standalone measure.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who sponsored the gas stove amendment, celebrated its inclusion in the bill in a written statement.
“It’s past time for Washington bureaucrats to stop overreaching and telling American families how to cook their dinner,” he said.
“As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am proud to have secured this bipartisan amendment to prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from issuing any rule banning gas stoves and am committed to stopping the Biden Administration from extending their radical climate agenda to our kitchens,” he added.
Gas stoves have been the center of a fierce debate in Washington after a Consumer Product Safety Commission member indicated that the panel was considering regulations or even a ban on them.
That commissioner, Richard Trumka Jr., cited health concerns related to the appliances, which have been found to leak the carcinogen benzene and have been linked to childhood asthma.
However, his suggestion launched a firestorm in Washington, with Republicans in particular outraged by the suggestion of a gas stove ban.
In the wake of the controversy, the White House came out against a gas stove ban.
The head of the commission, which is independent from the Biden administration though it contains presidential nominees, also said the panel was not looking to ban the products, but it appeared to leave other restrictions on the table.