Sen. Mike Lee is paring back his original plan to auction off millions of acres of American public lands after Senate rules torpedoed his original proposal.
Lee’s plan to sell more than 2 million acres of federal lands was nixed after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it violated the “Byrd Rule,” which says that only provisions directly related to the budget process can be included in the reconciliation process, keeping “extraneous” issues out.
Shortly before the parliamentarian’s ruling killed his proposal, Lee appeared to sense defeat, announcing on social media that changes were coming.
Housing prices are crushing families and keeping young Americans from living where they grew up. We need to change that.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 24, 2025
Thanks to YOU—the AMERICAN PEOPLE—here’s what I plan to do:
1. REMOVE ALL Forest Service land. We are NOT selling off our forests.
2. SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE…
According to emailed bullet points to Utah lawmakers provided to Utah Political Watch, Lee is preparing to unveil a watered-down version: only Bureau of Land Management properties would face the auctioneer’s gavel, with all Forest Service lands now off-limits.
The updated plan also slashes the amount of the 245 million acres of BLM land that would be up for sale, from 0.5-0.75% to between 0.2% and 0.5%, or up to 1.225 million acres.
According to the latest bill draft, Lee’s plan now specifies that any land sold can only be used “solely for the development of housing or to address any infrastructure and amenities to support local needs associated with housing.”
The changes also specify that only lands within 5 miles of the boundary of a population center can be sold.
Lee is also promising to use more of the money from the sales to “improve lands for hunting and fishing,” upping the percentage of the proceeds that would go toward the BLM’s deferred maintenance backlog from 5% to 10%. Lee claims that would raise $600 million in new funding over the next decade.
The plan has faced significant pushback from environmental groups and his Republican colleagues in Congress.
Lee’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
