GOP Senator's plan to sell more than 2 million acres of federal lands is found to violate Senate rules

Public land sales hit roadblock with Byrd Rule

Changes are coming to Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell off millions of acres of federal public land in the West after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the provision violated a legislative rule.  The provision was one of several from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee ruled out by Elizabeth MacDonough, who has served as the parliamentarian since 2012, according to a press release from Democrats in the Senate Budget Committee. The…

Public land sales struck from federal reconciliation bill, but some might make it back in

Residents of Prince of Wales Island gather on a remote beach at Port Protection on June 21, 2025, to urge lawmakers to keep public lands in public hands. (Photo courtesy of Colin Arisman) Listen to this story: https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/26PublicLand_WEB.wav A mandate to sell millions of acres of public land was struck from the Republican budget reconciliation bill that’s moving through the U.S. Senate this week. That’s aft…

Controversial bill to sell over 3 million acres of America's natural land hits roadblock: 'Families would lose access'

A deeply unpopular, controversial proposal to sell off public lands for private purchase and development — tucked into a massive budget reconciliation bill — has been blocked by the Senate parliamentarian, Axios reported. Although a similar House proposal initially failed in May, Utah Sen. Mike Lee "revived" it and released a draft version June 11, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.  As written, Lee's land sale proposal went much further than t…

Mike Lee narrows controversial public land sale measure

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) scaled back his measure to sell federal land to address the nationwide housing shortage. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough cut it earlier this week, and it has separately created significant controversy, including among some conservative conservationists. The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Monday that Lee’s measure in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act violated the Byrd Rule. The rule limits the measures …

Public lands Senate bill amendment stopped; more efforts planned

After a couple of attempts to pass a lands bill have been thwarted, one senator is trying to keep the sale of public lands in play.

Plan to sell 250 million acres of public land suffers major setback

Selling land to provide housing is something Trump has advocated but has been criticized by conservation advocacy groups.