Public Lands Leadership Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4836 To prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts that an individual exercising the authority of the head of an agency for more than a year, regardless of their title, is not in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 21 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. ROSEN, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts that an individual exercising the authority of the head of an agency for more than a year, regardless of their title, is not in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Lands Leader- 4 ship Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4836 IS (1) William Perry Pendley is not an appropriate 1 choice to lead, work in, or advise any public land 2 management agency due to his record prior to his 3 employment at the Bureau of Land Management, 4 and his continuing work there; 5 (2) Mr. Pendley has a lengthy and public record 6 supporting the transfer and privatization of public 7 land, including the 245,000,000 acres and 8 700,000,000 subsurface acres he oversaw as de facto 9 Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Manage- 10 ment; 11 (3) Mr. Pendley has pursued the development 12 of natural resources on public lands at the expense 13 of Tribal consultation, public comment, and reason- 14 able oversight; 15 (4) Mr. Pendley has professionally advocated 16 for oil and gas leases issued in the Badger-Two 17 Medicine area, despite the leases being issued with- 18 out consultation with the Blackfeet Nation, and de- 19 spite the later decision of the Department of Interior 20 to cancel the leases; 21 (5) Mr. Pendley has opposed and litigated pub- 22 lic access to streams and rivers in Montana through 23 his professional opposition to the Montana Stream 24 Access Law; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4836 IS (6) Mr. Pendley has expressed public support 1 for armed insurrection against the agency he 2 oversaw as de facto Acting Director of the Bureau 3 of Land Management; 4 (7) Mr. Pendley has publicly opposed bedrock 5 public lands laws that protect the land he oversaw 6 as de facto Acting Director of the Bureau of Land 7 Management; 8 (8) Mr. Pendley has made disparaging racial 9 comments, indicating he does not intend to serve the 10 entire citizenry equitably and without prejudice; 11 (9) Mr. Pendley has openly mocked the cultures 12 and traditions of Tribal nations, demonstrating his 13 inability to serve as a reliable Federal partner for 14 Tribes and to uphold the trust and treaty respon- 15 sibilities of the Federal Government; 16 (10) Mr. Pendley has reversed course on dec- 17 ades of collaborative efforts by private landowners, 18 ranchers, State and local governments, and other 19 stakeholders to protect rangeland ecosystems and 20 the greater sage grouse; 21 (11) Mr. Pendley has issued problematic Re- 22 source Management Plans in Montana and other 23 States that fly in the face of large-scale public oppo- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4836 IS sition to prioritizing energy development over col- 1 laborative conservation efforts and other activities; 2 (12) despite his problematic record, Mr. 3 Pendley served in the top leadership role at the Bu- 4 reau of Land Management for over a year, and con- 5 tinues to be retained in a senior position; 6 (13) Mr. Pendley served as Deputy Director for 7 Policy and Programs exercising the authority of the 8 director of the Bureau of Land Management for 424 9 days; 10 (14) Mr. Pendley was the de facto Acting Di- 11 rector of the Bureau of Land Management during 12 this period, regardless of his specific title; 13 (15) the extended role of Mr. Pendley at the 14 Bureau of Land Management is a clear violation of 15 sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5, United 16 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Va- 17 cancies Reform Act of 1998’’), as determined by the 18 United States District Court for the District of 19 Montana, and undermines the constitutional respon- 20 sibility of the Senate to review nominations for agen- 21 cy leadership; 22 (16) on September 25, 2020, the United States 23 District Court for the District of Montana ruled that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4836 IS the lengthy tenure of Mr. Pendley as de facto Acting 1 Director was illegal; 2 (17) Mr. Pendley continues to operate in a sen- 3 ior leadership role at the Bureau of Land Manage- 4 ment; 5 (18) the Department of Interior continues to 6 employ Mr. Pendley, and has publicly stated its in- 7 tention to contest the court ruling; and 8 (19) the failure of the President to advance a 9 formal nominee for the position of the Director of 10 the Bureau of Land Management for congressional 11 review and confirmation over the past 31⁄2 years sig- 12 nificantly undermines the constitutional responsi- 13 bility of the Senate to provide advice and consent on 14 all offices of the United States. 15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DOJ EFFORTS TO ADVOCATE COURTS 16 TO PROTECT THE ROLE OF WILLIAM 17 PENDLEY AS DE FACTO ACTING DIRECTOR. 18 The Department of Justice may not, in Bullock v. 19 United States Bureau of Land Management, No. 4:20– 20 cv–00062–BMM, 2020 WL 5746836 (D. Mont. Sept. 25, 21 2020), advocate that an individual exercising the authority 22 of the head of an agency, regardless of their title and serv- 23 ing without congressional consent for over a year, is not 24 in violation of sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4836 IS United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Va- 1 cancies Reform Act of 1998’’). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS