Overview
- Sen. Mike Lee entered a GAO opinion into the Congressional Record this week declaring the monument’s 2025 resource management plan a reviewable rule.
- Rep. Celeste Maloy and Lee say they will file a joint resolution of disapproval in the coming days to nullify the Bureau of Land Management plan.
- If both chambers pass the resolution, the agency must discard the plan and replace it with one not considered substantially the same, though the monument’s boundaries would remain intact.
- Conservation groups, Tribal representatives and legal advocates pledged to fight the effort, warning of risks to cultural sites, fossils, wildlife habitat and years of public and Tribal input.
- Observers note this would be the first use of the CRA to undo a BLM monument plan, creating legal uncertainty about next steps and potentially reopening opportunities for grazing and mining, including coal, if protections are rolled back.