Environmental Regulation

The House passed a resolution 214–208 to overturn a Biden-era Interior Department decision limiting mineral development on federal lands near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, with Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., as sponsor. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, joined Republicans in backing the measure, while one Republican, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, opposed it, underscoring tight partisan lines on public-lands and mining policy. Supporters including House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman argue the move simply reverses what they call the administration’s "short-circuiting" of the normal permitting process and is needed to tap U.S. deposits of copper, nickel, titanium and other minerals for national security and clean‑energy technology. Democrats led by Rep. Jared Huffman counter that reopening the area threatens the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a major outdoor‑recreation economy, and could benefit companies such as Twin Metals with ties to foreign interests like China, without guarantees the ore would stay in U.S. supply chains. The resolution now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain and where the broader fight over domestic critical‑minerals production versus environmental protection is drawing heightened attention.