Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Critics say the BLM's proposed policies would make it easier for oil and gas companies to shift the financial cost of cleaning up retired, polluting wells to taxpayers.

The party-line vote came after months of public debate between conservationists and ranching and energy groups over the president’s pick to oversee millions of acres of land.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency cut 1,753 land management jobs last year, or 26% of the jobs managing 24 million public acres. "Morning Edition" host Michael Lyle, Jr. and Colorado Sun reporter Jason Blevins discuss the ramifications of these cuts.

Steve Pearce, a former Republican congressman from New Mexico, would next need to clear a vote in the full Senate in the coming weeks to be confirmed.

President Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management failed to assuage Democratic concerns about his past support to sell public lands.

Steve Pearce, Trump's pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management, said he would not propose large-scale sales of public lands.

President Trump’s nominee, Steve Pearce, is a former New Mexico congressman and Vietnam War pilot. The opposition feels he could sell off public land.

The Trump administration wants to expand drilling on public lands, but oil and gas developers expressed zero interest in Thursday’s sale.

Senators characterized the agency’s decision-making process as “rigid” and “slow,” and said they want states to have a bigger role.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule put conservation on equal footing with grazing and energy production. The Trump administration is trying to roll it back.