Federal judge removes Trump’s public lands boss
BILLINGS, MONT.— A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s leading steward of public lands has been serving unlawfully, blocking him from continuing in the position in the latest pushback against the administration’s practice of filling key positionswithout U.S. Senate approval.
U.S. Interior Department BureauofLandManagement acting directorWilliamPerry Pendley served unlawfully for 424 days without being confirmed to the post by the Senate as required under the Constitution, U. S. District Judge Brian Morris determined.
Theruling cameafterMontana’s Democratic governor in July sued to remove Pendley, saying the former oil industry attorney was illegally overseeing an agency that manages almost a quarter-billion acres of land, primarily in the U.S. West.
“Today’s ruling is a win for the Constitution, the rule of law and our public lands,” Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday. Environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers fromWestern states also cheered the judge’s move after urging for months that Pendley be removed.
The ruling will be immediately appealed, according to Interior Department spokesmanConnerSwanson. He called it “an outrageous decision that iswell outside the bounds of the law,” and he said the Obama administration had similarly filled key posts at the agency with temporary authorizations.
The agency will abide by the judge’s order while the appeal is pending, officials said. It will also have to confrontquestionsover the legitimacy of decisions Pendley
made, including his approval of land use plans inMontana thatMorris said Pendleywas not authorized to make.
The land bureau regulates activities ranging from mining and oil extraction to livestock grazing and recreation. Under Trump, it has been at the forefront in the administration’s drive to loosen environmental restrictions for oil and gas drilling and other development on public lands.
Pendley has been one of several senior officials in the Trump administration running federal agencies and departments despite not having gone before the Senate for the confirmation hearings that are required for top posts.
Last month, the Government Accountability Office, a bipartisan congressional watchdog, said acting Department of Homeland Security SecretaryChadWolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, were improperly serving and ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancies Reform Act. The
two have been at the forefront of administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement.
Trump agencies have defended the skipped deadlines for Senate hearings for administration nominees, saying the senior officials involved were carrying out the duties of their acting position but were not actually filling that position, and thus did not require a hearing and votes before the Senate.
Pendley had been formally nominated by Trump to direct the land bureau in July, after being given temporary authorizations to the acting position several times by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.
But the nomination was withdrawn this month after the confirmation process threatened to become contentious, potentially disrupting key U.S. senate races in Montana, where Bullock is seeking to unseat Republican Steve Daines, and Colorado, where Republican Sen. Cory Gardner is being challenged.