Parliamentarian Nixes GOP Plot To Sell Public Lands

The Huffington Post reports:

Sen. Mike Lee announced intentions to rework his plan mandating the sale of up to 3.3 million acres of public land in the American West after bipartisan backlash and an unfavorable ruling by the Senate’s rules referee. “I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward,” the Utah Republican wrote Monday in a post online. “Stay tuned. We’re just getting started.”

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough advised late Monday that Lee’s plan to allow the sale of millions of acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, which was included in the GOP’s massive tax-and-spending package, violated the chamber’s rules governing the budget reconciliation process that allows a majority to pass budget bills by side-stepping the filibuster.

Read the full article. The parliamentarian previously axed portions of the bill that foists food stamps funding on the states, allows Trump to dismantle federal agencies, and allows local police to arrest migrants.