Mike Lee Backs Down From Public Land Sale Provision In BBB After Backlash
Utah republican senator Mike Lee has withdrawn his controversial provision for the sale of federal land from the “big” tax bill after public pressure from citizens and legislators, he said in a tweet on Saturday.
“Due to the strict constraints of the budgetary reconciliation process, I could not obtain clear and enforceable guarantees to ensure that these lands would only be sold to American families not to China, not in Blackrock, and not to foreign interests,” Lee wrote in tweet.
“For this reason, I made the decision to withdraw the federal provision of land sales from the bill,” he wrote.
– Mike Lee (@senmikelee) June 29, 2025
The amendment proposed by Lee would have asked the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and forest services (FS) to identify and sell between 0.5 and 0.75 percent of public land that they have exclusively for housing purposes.
The proposal had caused a rage among citizens of Western states where the majority of land is public.
He had also aroused public criticism from the legislators in some of these states, notably senators from the Idaho and Montana GOP.
Despite Lee’s proposal exempting the Montana from the provision of the sale of land, the Republican Senators of the State Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy threatened to present their own amendment to withdraw the LEE bill.
The couple celebrated Lee’s withdrawal in a joint declaration. (Related: The GOP of the Senate takes Sledgehammer to the Green Energy Change of Biden)
“Public lands belong to public hands. The blocking of the sale of public lands is a victory for our Montana lifestyle, “they wrote in a press release shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The entire Montana delegation has been united since the first day: public lands belong to public hands.
Proud to work with @Stevenes To block the sale of public land. Now let’s move on the big and beautiful bill so that we can implement the first agenda in America Montanans… https://t.co/yog70PSVGR
– Tim Sheehy (@timsheehymt) June 29, 2025
Lee, one of the 51 Senators of the GOP to vote yes to advance the tax bill to debate on Saturday evening, said that he had not finished trying to fight for the sale of public land and would try to work with President Donald Trump on the issue in the future.
“I continue to believe that the federal government has far too many land, it is Malnian and in many cases that ruins the next generation. Under Democratic presidents, massive expanses of the West are locked up to the people who live there, without significant recourse. statement.
“President Trump has promised to put underused federal land to work for American families, and I can’t wait to help him achieve this in a way that respects the heritage of our public lands and reflects the values of the people who use them the most,” he wrote.
A land map belonging to the federal government in the United States pic.twitter.com/nrd9qrbqhu
– Incredible cards (@amazingmap) January 20, 2025
About 40% of American lands publicly belong to 28% of it belonging to the federal government. The vast majority of these public lands are concentrated in the 12 most western states of the United States.
