House Republicans Just Made It Easier for Congress to Give Away Public Lands

Conservationists warn that cities and states could sell off public land to private developers and extractive industries.

From Truthout:

Republicans approved new House rules on Monday [January 9, 2023] making it easier for lawmakers to cede federal public lands to state and local governments without accounting for the costs to taxpayers. Conservationists warn that cash-strapped cities and states could then sell off natural areas that were previously protected to private developers and extractive industries.

Passing a rules package for House business was the next step toward legislation for the Republican majority after a difficult week of wrangling to elect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The 55-page rules package is the result of weeks of negotiation between McCarthy and a faction of ultra-conservatives who used the GOP’s slim majority to squeeze out a number of concessions and create a painful spectacle on the House floor last week, when McCarthy was finally elected after 15 rounds of voting.

Some of the rule changes were expected, including new rules curbing McCarthy’s power and making it easier for lawmakers to demand spending cuts and launch partisan investigations into the Biden administration. However, Democrats say new rules barring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) from calculating the value of federal public lands given away by Congress is a throwback to a previous Republican majority that pandered to anti-government extremists in mostly Western states.