Trump Directs Thune, Johnson to Reach Deal on E15 Access
President Trump said in a speech in Clive, Iowa, on Tuesday afternoon that he has directed Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune “to find a deal that works” in Congress on year-round access to E15 throughout the country.
The president went on to note that such a legislative compromise must work for “farmers, consumers, and refiners — including small and mid-sized refiners.”
The comments come as the ethanol industry gears up for yet another push this session to secure year-round access to the fuel blend before it is once again prohibited from use this summer during the high-ozone period spanning June 1 to Sept. 15 under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
It follows news last week that major ethanol and refining industry groups had finally broken a long-running legislative impasse on access for the blend. The legislation stemming from that deal, known as the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2026, would revise the CAA provision to allow for E15 use during the high-ozone period while also significantly constricting the small refinery exemption (SRE) program under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and robustly reducing the costs for complying with it.
That measure failed to make it into the four-bill package to fund the federal government that passed through the House of Representatives last week, however, which has led to skepticism over whether Congress will be able to find a viable package to attach E15 access to before this summer.
And while Trump said in his speech on Tuesday that Johnson and Thune are working on an E15 access bill, “and they are very close to getting it done,” it is unclear whether the parameters under discussion between the leaders will match the package agreed upon last week by several of the nation’s most prominent ethanol and refining industry groups.
He went on to note that he is expecting “a bill very shortly supporting year-round E15 to my desk very quickly, and I will sign it without delay.”
The comments were swiftly applauded by the Renewable Fuels Association on Tuesday evening, as President and CEO Geoff Cooper said the group was “very happy to see him use this opportunity to encourage Congress to get the year-round E15 bill done and to his desk as soon as possible.”
“President Trump has always been a strong supporter of E15 because he understands how important it is to farmers and affordability at the pump,” Cooper said.
Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said in a release that, “year-round E15 represents the one shining light at the end of a very dark tunnel for farmers.”
“Pushing that through would make President Trump the godfather of E15, and I believe farmers would be talking about his feat for years to come,” Shaw said.
Reporting by Patrick Newkumet, pnewkumet@opisnet.com