Floor SpeechNeutral2026-04-15

PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND ORDER NO. 7917 FOR WITHDRAWAL...

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Context

On 2026-04-15, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) delivered a floor speech titled "PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUR" in the Senate. The speech addressed taxes and also covered climate policy, the environment. It referenced legislation including S1779, S1780, HJRES140.

Full Text

PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND ORDER NO. 7917 FOR WITHDRAWAL...

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1779-S1780] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND ORDER NO. 7917 FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LANDS; COOK, LAKE, AND SAINT LOUIS COUNTIES, MN--Motion to Proceed Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I understand that the Senate has received H.J. Res. 140 from the House. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. Mr. THUNE. I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 140. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion. The legislative clerk read as follows: Motion to proceed to H.J. Res. 140, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. Point of Order Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise to make a point of order, and I ask for 1 minute of comment without objection. [[Page S1780]] The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, allowing public land orders to be rescinded under the Congressional Review Act, which is what would be happening here tonight, is a dangerous precedent that would affect every State in our country. Public land orders have never been previously submitted by any administration, including the first Trump administration, as a rule under the CRA. Using the CRA to undo this public land order would establish a new precedent, allowing future Congresses to undo with no time limit any public land order and potentially any administrative action. Think of what this might mean, colleagues. Examples of orders that would be overturned years after the fact would include fossil fuel and mining leases, permits, and permitting denials--any rule or determination of any administrative law matter. So, colleagues, I ask you not to set this precedent today that any land order dating back to 1996 could be overturned on a party-line vote, with no environmental review. Mr. President, I make a point of order that H.J. Res. 140 is not entitled to expedited procedures under the Congressional Review Act because Public Land Order No. 7917 is not a rule within the meaning of the Congressional Review Act, and H.J. Res. 140 does not meet all of the requirements of section 802 of the Congressional Review Act under the precedent set on May 21, 2025. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair submits the question to the Senate. It is a point of order well-taken. The majority leader. Motion to Table Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to table the point of order, and I ask for the yeas and nays. Vote on Motion to Table The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis). The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 48, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 82 Leg.] YEAS--51 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McConnell McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tuberville Wicker Young NAYS--48 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--1 Tillis The motion was agreed to. Vote on Motion to Proceed The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The question is on agreeing to the motion to proceed. Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll. The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 49, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 83 Leg.] YEAS--51 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McConnell McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tuberville Wicker Young NAYS--49 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Tillis Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden The motion was agreed to. (Mr. HUSTED assumed the Chair.) ____________________

Referenced legislation: HJRES140, HJRES140

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PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND ORDER NO. 7917 FOR WITHDRAWAL... Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1779-S1780] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND ORDER NO. 7917 FOR WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LANDS; COOK, LAKE, AND SAINT LOUIS COUNTIES, MN--Motion to Proceed Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I understand that the Senate has received H.J. Res. 140 from the House. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. Mr. THUNE. I move to proceed to H.J. Res. 140. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion. The legislative clerk read as follows: Motion to proceed to H.J. Res. 140, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. Point of Order Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise to make a point of order, and I ask for 1 minute of comment without objection. [[Page S1780]] The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, allowing public land orders to be rescinded under the Congressional Review Act, which is what would be happening here tonight, is a dangerous precedent that would affect every State in our country. Public land orders have never been previously submitted by any administration, including the first Trump administration, as a rule under the CRA. Using the CRA to undo this public land order would establish a new precedent, allowing future Congresses to undo with no time limit any public land order and potentially any administrative action. Think of what this might mean, colleagues. Examples of orders that would be overturned years after the fact would include fossil fuel and mining leases, permits, and permitting denials--any rule or determination of any administrative law matter. So, colleagues, I ask you not to set this precedent today that any land order dating back to 1996 could be overturned on a party-line vote, with no environmental review. Mr. President, I make a point of order that H.J. Res. 140 is not entitled to expedited procedures under the Congressional Review Act because Public Land Order No. 7917 is not a rule within the meaning of the Congressional Review Act, and H.J. Res. 140 does not meet all of the requirements of section 802 of the Congressional Review Act under the precedent set on May 21, 2025. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair submits the question to the Senate. It is a point of order well-taken. The majority leader. Motion to Table Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to table the point of order, and I ask for the yeas and nays. Vote on Motion to Table The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk called the roll. Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis). The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 48, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 82 Leg.] YEAS--51 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McConnell McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tuberville Wicker Young NAYS--48 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--1 Tillis The motion was agreed to. Vote on Motion to Proceed The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The question is on agreeing to the motion to proceed. Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll. The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 49, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 83 Leg.] YEAS--51 Armstrong Banks Barrasso Blackburn Boozman Britt Budd Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Curtis Daines Ernst Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hawley Hoeven Husted Hyde-Smith Johnson Justice Kennedy Lankford Lee Lummis Marshall McConnell McCormick Moody Moran Moreno Murkowski Paul Ricketts Risch Rounds Schmitt Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Sheehy Sullivan Thune Tuberville Wicker Young NAYS--49 Alsobrooks Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Blunt Rochester Booker Cantwell Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Fetterman Gallego Gillibrand Hassan Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Kaine Kelly Kim King Klobuchar Lujan Markey Merkley Murphy Murray Ossoff Padilla Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schiff Schumer Shaheen Slotkin Smith Tillis Van Hollen Warner Warnock Warren Welch Whitehouse Wyden The motion was agreed to. (Mr. HUSTED assumed the Chair.) ____________________ Referenced legislation: HJRES140, HJRES140