A bipartisan House alliance is taking aim at a Biden-era Fish and Wildlife Service plan that’s designed to protect threatened northern spotted owls by killing their barred owl competitors.
Citing the potential cost and undeniable scale of the federal agency’s lethal barred owl management plan, 13 Republicans and eight Democrats have signed on to a Congressional Review Act resolution that, if approved by both House and Senate and signed by President Donald Trump, would stop the owl plan finalized last year.
“The Biden Administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service plan to directly kill more than 450,000 barred owls, costing taxpayers over $1.3 billion over the next 30 years, is a waste of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), said in a a statement, adding that the resolution would prevent money from “being wasted on the pointless killing of barred owls in the Pacific Northwest.”
The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn newly issued rules by simple majority. But because the Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t submit its 2024 record of decision as a rule, the Biden administration action is now vulnerable to repeal, as confirmed by the Government Accountability Office.
