House Passes Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill'—but Federal Land Sale Provision Is Axed
The sweeping trillion-dollar tax and spending bill passed the House by just one vote, 215-214, with two Republicans joining the Democrats in their opposition.
The vote in the overnight hours extends the president's tax cuts passed in 2017 (when Trump was first president), provides more money for the military and border security but cuts hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps).
A provision that slipped into the May 6 revision of the bill was what to do with about 450,000 acres of undeveloped land in Nevada and Utah, owned by the federal government.
Republicans were proposing selling that land to the respective state or private entities, possibly with the intent to build affordable housing. Nevada and Utah were singled out as the top two states, respectively, with the highest percentage of government-owned land.
On the campaign trail in August last year, Trump pledged to make housing more affordable, saying: 'We're going to open up tracts of federal land for housing construction. We desperately need housing for people who can't afford what's going on now.'
America faces a housing shortage that will take more than seven years to fix at the current rate of construction, according to a report on the housing supply gap from the Realtor.com® economic research team.
Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) led the effort to get the provision removed and was successful when it was axed late Wednesday, May 21.
'This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back. God isn't creating more land,' said Zinke. 'Public access, sportsmanship, grazing, tourism … our entire Montanan way of life is connected to our public lands. I don't yield to pressure; I only yield to higher principle. There is a process to making sure that our lands are being used for the best benefit of the people.'
Zinke wasn't the only politician concerned about the land sale. The change was supported by Representatives Troy Downing (R-MT), Mike Simpson (R-ID) and hundreds of other members on both sides of the aisle, according to a press release from Zinke's office.
The concerns were wide-ranging, including what might happen to the land if it was sold to private corporations, such as energy companies.
'The TRCP is encouraged to see provisions removed from the House budget reconciliation bill that would sell off public lands. Hunters and anglers stepped into the arena to make their voices heard, and members of Congress listened—thank you,' said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Missoula, MT-based Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
The proposed land sales would open the door for developers to build affordable housing on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land outside Las Vegas and Reno, and in Utah, around the tourist town of St. George, but there was no guarantee that would be the outcome.
In Nevada, the federal government manages most of state's land—over 85%. The state also has the largest special recreation permit.
The federal government has controlled much of the state of Utah's land dating back to the 1800s, when Utah and other states were given up by Mexico as part of the treaty to end the war. Now, the Bureau of Land Management oversees nearly 23 acres.
'Public lands in Utah serve multiple purposes,' Jonathan Malloy with the Utah Bureau of Land Management tells Realtor.com®. 'Some areas support recreation and tourism; others are used for responsible resource development or infrastructure needs such as roads, pipelines, and transmission corridors.'
The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, but GOPers have vowed to make changes.
Congressional leaders want to send a final bill to Trump's desk by July 4.
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