Overview

• Under Lee’s original text, the BLM and U.S. Forest Service would auction 2.1 million to 3.3 million acres across 11 Western states, with language that could open more than 250 million acres for sale.
• The Senate parliamentarian ruled the land-sale provision violates the Byrd Rule’s reconciliation guidelines, blocking its inclusion in the tax and spending bill.
• In response, Lee plans to strip out U.S. Forest Service lands, cap BLM sales to parcels within five miles of population centers and create “freedom zones” to ensure housing benefits.
• Over 150 conservation, civil rights and hunting groups plus a coalition of Republican senators and Western governors have criticized the proposal for environmental risks and lack of affordable-housing guarantees.
• The broader “big, beautiful bill” must clear the Senate by July 4 to maintain Trump’s tax cuts and raise up to $10 billion for housing and infrastructure.