In late July, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) joined others calling for William Perry Pendley, the “acting” director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to step down until formally confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The parties claim his appointment violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
“I’m taking this action today not just to block William Perry Pendley’s further illegitimate oversight of the Bureau, but also to ensure that this unconstitutional abuse of executive powers does not become commonplace under any administration in the future,” Bullock said in a press release.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1988 states a person cannot serve as an acting officer if they “did not serve in the position of [the] first assistant to the office,” or unless “the President submits a nomination of such person to the Senate for appointment to such office.”
“The Federal Vacancies Reform Act bars presidents from circumventing the Constitution by putting people in charge of federal agencies before they are Senate-confirmed. But that is precisely what has happened here,” Bullock stated in his complaint.
President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Pendley as the director of the BLM in late June. Pendley currently serves as deputy director for policy and programs at the BLM and has been at the position since July 2019, without being named an “acting” director under the Act.
According to Bloomberg Law, the Department of the Interior dismissed the lawsuit’s legitimacy, saying it was “frivolous and politically motivated.” Interior Department Spokesman Conner Swanson said Pendley’s post “doesn’t break the law because the Federal Vacancies Reform Act requires the ‘first assistant’ to an agency director to become acting director when the director departs, but that position wasn’t filled.”
A day after the suit filed by Bullock, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), along with eight other Democratic senators from western states, sent a letter to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The letter asks Murkowski to “expedite a hearing and subsequent business meeting on the nomination of William Pendley to serve as director of the [BLM],” stating the nomination is “long overdue.”
“His advocacy for selling off our public lands flies in the face of the agency’s role in managing more than 245 million acres of public lands for the American public’s benefit. He spent much of his career working against the interests of local communities who fought to protect public lands from development. The American public deserves the opportunity to review how Mr. Pendley’s history conflicts with the important role of overseeing the BLM,” the letter states.
Pendley previously was president of Mountain States Legal Foundation for 30 years, a non-profit, public interest law firm which protects property rights. He also served in the Reagan administration as deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for Energy and Minerals and was an attorney to Sen. Clifford Hansen of Wyoming.
“Americans and Montanans deserve a BLM director who values the public’s role in managing our public lands,” Bullock said in a press release. “During Pendley’s unlawful tenure, the BLM has interfered with Montana’s collaborative efforts and public access priorities. This decision-making by unconfirmed federal officials stands to create long-lasting and irreversible injury to our state’s lands, economy, and wildlife.”
In May, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Western Watershed Project filed suit against Interior Secretary David Bernhardt claiming he violated federal law “when he kept lower-level deputies in place as the de facto leaders of the National Park Service and BLM.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
