Feds promise to green-light Minnesota mining after megabill omission

By Hannah Northey | 06/12/2025 01:44 PM EDT

Top Trump administration officials are vowing to reverse a Biden order that blocks mining near the Boundary Waters.

a core sample drilled from underground rock

In this Oct. 4, 2011, file photo, a core sample drilled from underground rock near Ely, Minnesota, shows a band of shiny minerals containing copper, nickel and precious metals. Steve Karnowski/AP

Less than 24 hours after lawmakers yanked a provision to allow mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters from the Republican megabill, top Trump administration officials vowed to get the job done through regulatory maneuvers.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Wednesday on the social media site X that she’s rescinding a Biden-era order that placed thousands of acres in the Superior National Forest off limits to nickel and copper mining.

“Today,@USDA is proud to announce that we are initiating the process to cancel the mineral withdrawal in the Rainey River watershed on the Superior National Forest,” Rollins wrote. “After careful review, including extensive public input, the US Forest Service has enough information to know the withdrawal was never needed.”

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Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, who is pushing permanent protections for the Boundary Waters, quickly shot back, asking what new information would justify reversing the order.

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