North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer is putting a hold on President Donald Trump’s nominees until the administration agrees to change a wetland conservation program that has frustrated farmers in his state.
The hold could delay the White House’s effort to install Project 2025 author Dennis Kirk as inspector general at the Interior Department, along with pending nominees for top roles at the Health and Human Services Department, the National Science Foundation and more.
The aggressive move by Cramer comes days after the administration abandoned its plans to change a wetland conservation program that protects duck and bird habits at the urging of other Republican lawmakers.
Although Cramer said the Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to take another look at the issue, the initial decision to walk away from changing the program caught him off guard.
“There will be no pause in my aggression because I can’t take any more chances with this,” Cramer said in an interview. “I have put a hold on all nominees, period, of all agencies. So I hope Clarence Thomas stays healthy.”
While holds do not necessarily stop nominees from moving forward, they can slow down or thwart the a candidate’s confirmation because of the GOP’s slim majority.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did the Interior Department nor the FWS, which manages the conservation easement program.
A conservative Republican and close ally of the president, Cramer has been critical of the FWS’s drain tile setbacks rule, which regulates federal easements for waterfowl habitat in the Prairie Pothole region.
The wetland-rich area straddles parts of the Upper Midwest and is the breeding grounds for over a dozen species of migratory waterfowl, with the majority of federal easements located in North Dakota.
Administration officials were initially on board with changing the program, a decision that aligns squarely with the White House’s deregulatory agenda, Cramer said.
In particular, he and other North Dakota lawmakers have argued that the FWS has taken an overly aggressive stance against landowners with easements in its effort to protect the wetlands, and that people should be allowed to farm closer to the boundaries of the easements.
But other Republicans and hunters staunchly oppose any changes that would allow farmers to drain wetlands or indirectly harm them, as that could cause steep declines in duck populations.
Even in North Dakota, the policy has long been contentious, dividing the state’s outdoor enthusiasts and land-owning farmers.
“Sportsmen and women want to see more habitat on the ground and see more ducks in their bin at the end of the hunting day,” said John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation. “If we were to [roll back] these easements or see these tile setbacks get changed, we’d really have to start thinking about how are our sportsmen compensated.”
More than 200,000 people sent comments on the program in recent weeks to the FWS. The agency ultimately announced over the weekend that it did not plan to propose changes to the easement rule “at this time.” Still, Cramer said he hopes it won’t be the final word.
“I finally heard from Interior late last night,” Cramer said. “I heard from pretty good authority that they’ll be looking at the comments … we’ll see.”
