Congressional Republicans rolled their eyes after the Biden-Harris administration announced it would pare back the use of plastic cups and utensils at federal agencies in hopes of curtailing so-called "climate change."

Last month, the Biden-Harris team announced that it has been taking "ambitious action" to address plastic pollution at every phase of the plastic life cycle. As part of those efforts, officials want to phase out "procurement" of all single-use plastic food-service and packaging items from federal agencies by 2027 and "from all federal operations" by 2035.

'It’s more messaging and ridiculousness, and it’s a direct shot to that whole industry.'

Such single-use plastic and polystyrene straws, cups, cutlery, packaging, and disposable bags contribute to what a White House statement called a "plastic pollution crisis" that "disproportionately impact[s] communities with environmental justice concerns."

Biden and Harris carved out exceptions for cases of "national security." Apparently, single-use plastic cups and straws may be critical in protecting intelligence sources and undercover law enforcement from "unauthorized disclosure."

"Today’s actions further leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to reduce emissions, protect public health, and spur markets for new sustainable products. They also enhance domestic initiatives that reinforce United States leadership in ongoing international efforts to develop a strong agreement to tackle the plastic pollution crisis across the globe," the statement added.

Republicans laughed off these measures as "absurd" and impractical.

"It’s more messaging and ridiculousness, and it’s a direct shot to that whole industry," said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. "It’s also clearly not where everybody is. It’s going to raise costs for a lot of folks, so it seems to be just irrelevant on deficit issues."

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah suggested that Biden and Harris redirect their efforts toward reducing the size of government rather than the use of plastics. "They should shrink the government if they want it to be less of a consumer," Lee said.

As the new policy is most likely to impact "military bases" and other "government workplaces," Sen. Lee further wondered, "What about people who need things to go?"

Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota indicated that the timing of the announcement — less than a week after former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated and less than a month before global stock markets tanked on news of a pending U.S. recession — could not have been worse.

"The world’s on fire and he’s worried about plastic forks," Rounds quipped.

"'Look, I certainly understand that plastics are a pollutant; we need to do a better job with it. But I'm a little bit hesitant to say that this plastic ban will be a good thing."

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