• Utah senator says Forest Service lands no longer on the block as parliamentarian finds sell-off violates reconciliation budget rules.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile.com
In the face of mounting bipartisan criticism, Utah Sen. Mike Lee has backed off from a plan to sell Forest Service land at the same time a congressional official concluded his proposal didn’t meet rules to fast-track the federal budget.
Lee, a Republican, had sought to include a “mandatory disposal” provision in the Senate’s reconciliation budget, a measure that would have put 2-3 million acres of public land up for sale in Wyoming and 10 other Western states. The provision, Lee maintained, would help reduce the deficit and supply housing in the West. The reconciliation package can be passed by a simple majority.
But in a post on X Monday evening Lee said he would no longer target U.S. Forest Service lands in the plan forwarded by his Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
His about-face came as a Senate rule-maker — Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough — opined that the 11-page mandatory disposal section didn’t comply with a rule requiring reconciliation measures — the Republican’s One Big, Beautiful Bill in this case — to focus on budget matters.
That means the provision would be subject to protest and a ruling by the presiding senator when the matter is considered by the upper chamber. Measures that are found to violate the rule must be passed by 60 votes, not a simple majority.
In a narrowly divided Senate, that prospect would likely doom the land-sale effort.
“Here’s what I plan to do,” Lee posted. “REMOVE ALL Forest Service land. We are NOT selling off our forests.”
Further, Lee would require lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management to be considered for sale only if they were within five miles of population centers. He would also ensure the lands benefit American families, he said. Critics have worried foreign investors might swoop in on the sales.
Democrats said Monday evening that Republicans continue to violate the rule.
“Today, the Senate Parliamentarian again advised that several provisions in the Republicans’ ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ would be subject to a 60-vote threshold if they remain in the bill,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, posted on the committee’s website.
One of the seven provisions ruled out-of-bounds required mandatory public land sales. “This section mandates the unprecedented sale of millions of acres of public land, including from both Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands,” Democrats said.
Lee’s provision sparked an outburst of opposition as Wyoming residents of all stripes rose up to criticize it. U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, all Republicans, told upset constituents that the Wyoming delegation continued to support President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Criticism of the measure, Hageman wrote, amounts to “an effort to control these lands to ensure our amenities are used solely by the independently wealthy, who have little concern as to whether there is affordable housing available for the people who seek to make their lives in places like Kemmerer or Green River or Pinedale.”
But Democrats have countered that it is the Republican public lands plan that would benefit the wealthy at the expense of average Americans.
“Democrats will not stand idly by while Republicans attempt to circumvent the rules of reconciliation in order to sell off public lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” Merkley said in a statement.“Democrats continue to show up and fight every provision of this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill, because this bill is an attack on workers and families everywhere,” he stated. “We will make sure the Byrd Rule is followed and review any changes Republicans attempt to make.”
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.