Sen. Mike Lee removes public lands provision from Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah announced over the weekend he was removing a provision from the Senate's "big, beautiful bill" that would allow the sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands for affordable housing and infrastructure.

"Because of the strict constraints of the budget reconciliation process, I was unable to secure clear, enforceable safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families—not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests," Lee said in a statement announcing the withdrawal of the provision.

After the Senate parliamentarian ruled that Lee's original proposal, which encompassed millions of acres, would violate budget reconciliation rules, he had reduced the acreage. The bill, which contains President Trump's tax cuts, border and defense initiatives, is being considered under the special rules because it requires only a simple majority to pass, rather than the 60-vote super majority that is required for consideration of most legislation in the Senate.