Report: Five House GOP members oppose budget mega bill over public lands sale

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Five Republican members of Congress have reportedly sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson declaring that they will oppose the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill if the Senate keeps the Mike Lee, R- Utah backed public lands sale in the bill.

Those members, as reported by Politico, are Ryan Zinke (R-Montana), Dan Newhouse (R-Washington), Cliff Bentz (R-Oregon), David Valadao (R-California), and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).

“We cannot accept the sale of federal lands that Senator Lee seeks. If a provision to sell public lands is in the bill that reaches the House floor, we will be forced to vote no,” they wrote.

The group said that while they were supportive of the House version of the so-called big, beautiful bull and generally accepted that the Senate will make changes, they had “deep concerns” about the Senate adding that provision.

“We understand and agree with Senator Lee and our House colleagues that the Federal government has mismanaged federal lands for decades; however, we do not agree with their solution. We believe advancing the House Republicans’ legislative agenda on public lands and natural resources, along with using existing law for land disposals, is the correct path forward,” they wrote.

The group pointed out that Senator Lee’s original version was rejected by the Senate’s rules referee, or Parliamentarian, because it violated the Byrd rule that requires reconciliation bills to stick to the budgetary items.

Lee has submitted a stripped-down version of the plan, which cuts Forest Service land out entirely and reduces the amount of eligible BLM land, among other changes. It’s not yet known whether that version will pass the Byrd rule.

“It is our hope that the Senate Parliamentarian strips any language from the bill regarding public lands sales, but we hope we can count on you once again to hear our concerns and work with Senate Leadership to remove the provision that will tank the entire Republican agenda.”