Republican Senator Mike Lee’s proposed mass sell-off of public lands has foundered on the rocks of Senate procedure.
As a budget reconciliation bill, the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill can pass with a simple majority, rather than the 60-vote hurdle needed to overcome a filibuster. However, it is subject to certain constraints: Under what is known as the “Byrd Rule,” provisions that are unrelated to the budget get the chopping block.
Accordingly, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has in recent days been stripping certain extraneous provisions from the plan.
Among the dirt washed away in this so-called “Byrd bath” was a provision authored by Lee that would have put for sale up to 3.3 million acres of public land in 11 Western states, including Lee’s state of Utah. The plan received criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and from hunters, fishers, and conservation groups concerned that it would impact treasured natural sites in the American West.
While Lee claimed the land could be used to address the need for affordable housing, critical observers saw the proposal as merely an effort to pay for tax breaks under Trump. And, under the plan, there would have been “no significant guardrails to prevent valued public lands from being sold for trophy homes, pricey vacation spots, exclusive golf communities, or other developments,” according to the Center for American Progress.
Lee, for his part, has vowed to return with a diluted version of the proposal, writing on X, “Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward. Stay tuned. We’re just getting started.”
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