Advocates declared victory after Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee pulled his provision to sell public lands from the GOP’s domestic policy megabill.
But many are staying on guard after Congress got closer than it’s ever been to putting potentially millions of acres on the auction block.
The Senate on Tuesday passed its version of the megabill after a more than 24-hour vote-a-rama. Lee, a Republican from Utah, stripped his provision to sell 0.5 percent of Bureau of Land Management land to build affordable housing the day before.
He cited an inability to ensure that the company BlackRock or China wouldn’t be able to purchase the lands under the budget reconciliation process, which allows the majority to bypass the Senate filibuster under strict parameters.
