The federal onshore oil and gas leasing system is legally required to ensure that taxpayers are fairly compensated when private companies develop America’s publicly owned natural resources. Competitive leasing—where companies bid against each other for access to federal mineral rights—is central to achieving this goal. Yet for years, a loophole allowed companies to bypass competition altogether by acquiring leases noncompetitively, often for little or no compensation. Congress closed that loophole in 2022. Now, the FY2025 budget reconciliation bill threatens to bring it back.