Five Republican congressmen anticipate they will vote against Trump's big law for public lands sales
The group consists of Ryan Zinke (R-MO), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), and David Valadao (R-CA).
Ryan Zinke on Capitol Hill/ Shawn Thew.
Five Republican representatives anticipate they will vote against Donald Trump's mega bill when it reaches the House. With July 4 drawing ever closer, the Senate worked against the clock to agree on a final version of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill." In this context, a group of congressmen advanced their opposition, pointing to the proposed sale of public lands pushed by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).
Specifically, this grouping is made up of Ryan Zinke (R-MO), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), and David Valadao (R-CA). With Mike Johnson only able to face two Republican casualties (assuming all Democrats vote no), their five votes would be enough to stop the president's legislation.
The five wrote a letter to the House speaker, explaining their position on the matter.
"We support the OB3 passed by the House and generally accept changes to the bill that may be made by the Senate. However, we cannot accept the sale of federal lands that Senator Lee seeks," they wrote.
"f a provision to sell public lands is in the bill that reaches the House floor, we will be forced to vote no. (...) It is our hope that the Senate Parliamentarian strips any language from the bill regarding public lands sales, but we hope we can count on you once again to hear our concerns and work with Senate Leadership to remove the provision that will tank the entire Republican agenda," they added.
Notable within the group is the opposition of Zinke, who served as Secretary of the Interior during part of the first Trump Administration.
Senator Lee's public lands sale plan
Now, the new plan would sell between 612,500 and 1.2 million acres of public lands. According to text obtained by The Hill, between 0.25% and 0.50% of the Bureau of Land Management's 245 million acres currently held by the Bureau of Land Management would be sold.
In addition to lowering claims regarding the amount of public lands to be sold, Lee's new version excludes lands owned by the National Forests.
The updated provision specifies that the land to be sold must be used "solely for housing development or to address any infrastructure and services to support local needs associated with housing."
In turn, it requires that the land sold be within five miles of the boundary of a population center.
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