Joint Resolution Passed (50-49)
50 Yea49 Nay1 Not voting1/2 required
HJRES-140-119
Became Public Law No: 119-85.
Sponsored by Pete Stauber (R-MN)
What it does
This joint resolution, enacted under the Congressional Review Act, nullifies Bureau of Land Management Public Land Order 7917, which had withdrawn approximately 225,504 acres of National Forest System lands in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota from mineral and geothermal leasing for 20 years. By nullifying that order, the resolution reopens those lands to applications for mineral and geothermal exploration and development leases. The lands in question border the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and overlap with the 1854 Ceded Territory of the Lake Superior Chippewa.
Who benefits
Mining companies — particularly those interested in copper-nickel sulfide and other mineral deposits in the region — who would regain the ability to apply for federal leases. Geothermal energy developers seeking access to the withdrawn lands. Workers and local economies in northeastern Minnesota who may gain employment from mining operations. Federal and state governments that could receive royalty and tax revenues from mineral extraction. Shareholders and investors in mining and energy companies with interests in the region.
Who is hurt
Outfitters, tourism operators, and recreational users of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness who may face environmental changes from nearby mining activity. Environmental and conservation organizations that sought the 20-year withdrawal to protect the watershed. The Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) tribes whose 1854 treaty rights — including hunting, fishing, and gathering — in the Ceded Territory could be affected by mineral development. Downstream water users and communities dependent on the Rainy River Watershed. Property owners and businesses whose land values or operations depend on the wilderness character of the area.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the BLM's 2023 withdrawal was an executive overreach that locked up a region containing some of the largest undeveloped copper-nickel deposits in the world, bypassing Congress and local stakeholders. They contend that modern mining technology and existing environmental regulations — including the Clean Water Act and state permitting — are sufficient to protect water quality, and that the withdrawal denied northeastern Minnesota communities the economic benefits of thousands of well-paying mining jobs in a region with historically high unemployment.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the Boundary Waters is the most visited wilderness area in the United States, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually in tourism and recreation revenue that would be put at risk by sulfide mining — a process with a documented record of acid mine drainage contaminating waterways. They contend that the 1854 treaty rights of the Lake Superior Chippewa create binding federal obligations to protect the Ceded Territory's natural resources, and that reopening these lands to leasing disregards both those treaty commitments and the scientific basis for the original withdrawal.
Constitutional context
Federal authority over public lands is grounded in the Property Clause (Art. IV, §3, cl. 2), which gives Congress broad power to manage federal territory. The Congressional Review Act mechanism used here is a direct exercise of that legislative authority to override an executive agency rule. Separately, the 1854 Treaty with the Lake Superior Chippewa raises federal trust responsibility questions; treaty rights are the supreme law of the land under the Supremacy Clause (Art. VI), and any mineral development that materially impairs treaty-protected resources could face legal challenge independent of the land-use question.
Checks and balances
Congress gains authority over these federal lands by nullifying the executive agency's withdrawal order; the President signed the resolution, so no veto check applies here. Future checks include federal court review of any treaty rights claims by the Lake Superior Chippewa, state environmental permitting requirements, and standard federal leasing and environmental review processes under NEPA for any individual lease applications.
Historical precedent
Congress previously used the Congressional Review Act to nullify a similar Obama-era BLM rule in 2017 (the Stream Protection Rule), and the Trump administration separately reversed a prior Obama-era mineral withdrawal near the Boundary Waters in 2018, though that reversal was later blocked by a federal court on procedural grounds.
Joint Resolution Passed (50-49)
Motion to Proceed Agreed to (51-49)
Motion to Table Agreed to (51-48)
Passed