Trump’s Pick For Public Lands Chief Puts Endangered GOP Senators In A Bind
President Donald Trump just put two of his favorite Senate allies in a tough spot.
Late Tuesday, Trump formally nominated William Perry Pendley, a conservative lawyer with extreme anti-environmental views and a long history of advocating for the sale of federal lands, to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management ― an agency that manages 245 million acres, more than one-third of all federal land.
The timing of the move is baffling. Pendley has served as the bureau’s acting director since last July, thanks to a series of questionable ― some say illegal ― extensions by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Pendley could have remained in that role indefinitely, but Trump instead opted on the cusp of the 2020 elections to kickstart the scrutiny of a Senate confirmation process that Pendley has so far avoided.
That presumably will confront Republican Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Steve Daines (Mont.) ― two close Trump allies facing tough reelection bids who recently scored rare points with the conservation community ― with a dilemma: vote to confirm Pendley, which would surely enrage public land advocates, or oppose the nominee and face the wrath of Trump.
Backing Pendley would undercut if not entirely spoil the win Gardner and Daines scored with environmental and outdoor sporting groups this month. The two played a key role in championing a sweeping public lands package through the Senate.
The legislation, called the Great American Outdoors Act, has been hailed as the most important conservation bill in a generation. It sets aside $9.5 billion to address the ballooning maintenance backlog at national parks and provides full, permanent funding for the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program established in 1964 to protect natural areas and water resources. The House is expected to pass the bill this month, and Trump has promised to sign it into law.
Daines and Gardner, neither of whom have records that environmentalists...
