A Senate proposal to sell millions of acres of public land to help pay for President Donald Trump’s massive package of tax cuts and spending has been blocked by the Senate’s rule keeper.
The parliamentarian ruled the proposal — which would have raised billions through the sale of as much as 3 million acres of federal land — is outside of the scope of the fast-track budget process Republicans are using to pass the legislation implementing a $4.2 trillion tax cut.
While it’s possible Republicans can try to rewrite the proposal so it complies with Senate rules, the decision represents a triumph for conservation and environmental groups who were vehemently opposed to the plan.
“This is a victory for the American public, who were loud and clear: Public lands belong in public hands,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, president of The Wilderness Society. “We trust the next politician who wants to sell off public lands will remember that people of all stripes will stand against that idea.”
Republicans have said the sales are needed to provide cheap land to address a housing crisis, and the proposal dovetails with a Trump administration plan to build housing on federal land.
Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican leading the charge to sell swaths of Interior Department and US Forest Service land, said he was rejiggering the plan to reduce its scope, including removing all Forest Service land sales.
“Stay tuned,” Lee said in a post on X. “We’re just getting started.”
The budget process, which is immune to a filibuster, can be used for legislation primarily aimed at revenue and spending, not for making other changes to public policy.
Other parts of the Senate bill that were ruled not to be in compliance with the fast-track procedure include language that would automatically approve permits needed to export liquefied natural gas to applicants who paid a fee, and new fees imposed on renewable energy projects on public land. A provision nullifying lengthy environmental reviews for offshore oil and gas projects was also thrown out.
Democrats are challenging more portions of the Senate’s bill including measures that would mandate oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
“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,” said the Senate Budget Committee’s top Democrat, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, in a statement.
The Senate is expected to begin voting on the legislation as soon as this week.
