The Senate on Wednesday advanced contentious legislation that would scrap Biden-era mining limits near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.
Only two Republicans — Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine — joined Democrats in opposing a House-passed resolution favoring mining in the Superior National Forest. The Senate will take a final vote Thursday.
H.J. Res 140, from Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, cleared the House in January largely along party lines. It relies on the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress and the president to undo certain administration actions by simple majority.
Critics — including environmental and sportsmen groups — were hoping the Senate wouldn’t take up the legislation. Now, they’re hoping to sway more Republicans against the measure — an unlikely prospect.
