Republicans Move To Sell Off 'Federal Properties'
The Republican Study Committee says the policy proposal doesn’t target federal public land, but rather “underutilized” federal buildings.
UPDATE: After publication, a spokesperson for the Republican Study Committee denied that the policy proposal targets federal public land.
By “federal properties,” the drafters of the Republican framework meant “government buildings not in regular use or not being actively used at all," spokesperson Calli Cooper wrote in an email. “Our proposal is not related to public lands. It is related to buildings currently owned by the federal government that were identified in a government report as being ‘not utilized or underutilized.’”
PREVIOUSLY:
The Republican Study Committee on Tuesday published a framework for a second reconciliation package that calls for selling off federal public lands to build housing, adopting a contentious proposal previously championed by Utah Sen. Mike Lee.
The framework from the 190-member House conservative caucus seemingly amounts to a broad endorsement from House Republicans to try once again to use the budget reconciliation process as a vehicle to privatize federal public land.
The document, titled “Making the American Dream Affordable Again,” includes the following policy priority: “Direct relevant federal agencies to sell off or lease at a low rate underused and/or underutilized federal properties to expand access to affordable private-sector housing that enables homeownership.”
This marks the third time in less than a year that Republicans have pushed such a proposal, despite broad public opposition. The framework’s wording closely mirrors the language that Lee rolled out last year when pitching his scheme to sell off as many as 3.2 million acres of federal public land to make way for homes. Hunters, anglers and other public land users revolted against the measure. Lee ultimately withdrew his proposal from the GOP budget megabill after several Republican Senators vowed to vote against the package if his provision was included.
But House Republicans are pushing forward despite that defeat. The sell-off language appears near the top of the framework’s lengthy section titled “A Pathway to Homeownership.” The RSC did not signal what properties or how many acres it hopes to sell or lease, but estimates the action would result in a $115 billion increase in federal revenue.
The last time this debate unfolded in Washington, many tried to portray Lee as a lone actor and distance other Republican lawmakers from the widely condemned proposal. In his statement announcing the RSC reconciliation framework, Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), the committee’s chairman, noted that 190 members of Congress have been working on the bill.
In addition to forcing the liquidation of public acres, the RSC roadmap advocates for policies that:
“Reduce energy bills and prices at the pump by accelerating permitting approvals, reducing the power of federal bureaucrats, and providing regulatory certainty to America’s energy producers.”
“Codify President Trump’s sweeping executive orders by making his historic deregulatory agenda permanent and ensuring that these actions remain the law of the land for generations to come.”
“Impose a series of royalty-style fees on lawsuits challenging federal action under procedural environmental laws and use those fees to fund the Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division.”
“Dramatically reduce Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permitting requirements in instances where less than half of subsurface minerals within a drilling spacing unit are owned by the federal government consistent with the provisions included in the Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act.”
Public Domain will be digging deeper into the RSC framework in the coming days. Check back for updates.
Assholes
Gear up! We got this.