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Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee preemptively withdrew a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Saturday evening that would have allowed for the sale of federal lands for development after widespread outrage among his conservative colleagues.
"Over the past several weeks, I've spent a lot of time listening to members of the community, local leaders, and stakeholders across the country. While there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation – and in some cases, outright lies – about my bill, many people brought forward sincere concerns," Lee said in a message posted to his X account on Saturday evening.
Lee, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he pulled the provision after he failed to secure "safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families," and not to China or corporations. The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Monday that the provision's original language did not comply with strict rules related to what could be included in reconciliation legislation, with Lee's office resubmitting the provision with new language before pulling it altogether on Saturday evening.
Lee said he maintains his long-held position that the U.S. government owns too much land that is often mismanaged and leaves Americans, most notably in Western states, with higher tax burdens.
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Sen. Mike Lee speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup hearing on Nov. 30, 2023. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)
"I continue to believe the federal government owns far too much land – land it is mismanaging and in many cases ruining for the next generation," Lee wrote in his post. "Under Democratic presidents, massive swaths of the West are being locked away from the people who live there, with no meaningful recourse."
Lee had included a mandate for sales of millions of acres of federal lands in a draft provision of the tax cut package earlier this month. He preemptively pulled the provision on Saturday ahead of a procedural vote, as a handful of Republican lawmakers in both chambers publicly denounced the provision and said they would vote against the bill if it was included.
"We’ve got the votes to strike it," Montana Sen. Steve Daines said Thursday of Lee's provision. "We’re ready."
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Speaker Mike Johnson addresses the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"I agree with my colleagues that the federal government has mismanaged federal lands for decades. But I don’t agree with their solution. The solution is not to sell public lands. The solution is better management. Let’s send legislation to POTUS desk to improve management and access. I remain a no on the senate reconciliation bill," Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke posted to X last week ahead of Lee pulling the provision. Zinke served as President Donald Trump's secretary of the Department of the Interior during his first administration.
President Donald Trump is rallying Republican lawmakers to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
"The people of Idaho have been clear – we do NOT support the sale of our public lands to the highest bidder. I am proud to help lead the effort to remove this provision from the One Big Beautiful Bill," Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch posted to X after Lee said he would pull the provision.
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Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Jan. 2, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Lawmakers are on a tight 4th of July deadline to get the legislation, which will advance Trump's agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt, to the president's desk. Senate Republicans successfully carried the legislation over a procedural hurdle late on Saturday after hours of negotiations.
Fox News Digital's Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.