Numerous Democrats who have helped the Biden administration restrict fossil fuel development and production are now concerned about high gas prices as the 2024 elections loom.

A group of 23 Senate Democrats—including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania—signed a Thursday letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to have the Department of Justice investigate major energy companies for allegedly colluding to raise gas prices for Americans and fatten their bottom lines.

The suggestion that oil companies are illegally collaborating to rip off American consumers is not new to Democrats, who have revived the narrative as prices at the pump tick up ahead of the 2024 elections.

“The federal government must use every tool to prevent and prosecute collusion and price fixing that may have increased gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel costs in a way that has materially harmed virtually every American household and business,” the letter states. “We therefore urge the Department of Justice to investigate the oil industry, to hold accountable any liable actors, and to end any illegal activities.”

The letter references ExxonMobil’s recent acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and amplifies the Federal Trade Commission’s allegation that Chris Sheffield, the founder and ex-CEO of Pioneer, tried to organize collusion between American and OPEC energy producers to artificially inflate profits.

Sheffield, however, has strongly contested that allegation, saying in a statement that the “FTC is wrong to imply that [he] ever........

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