Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, attends a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, July 17, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In this case, lawmakers voted to reopen the door to mineral development on federal lands in the North Star State.
"The resolution before us today does not mandate projects, mining sites, firms, or schedules — it simply reverses the Biden administration’s unilateral short-circuiting of the normal permitting process," House Natural Resource Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said on the House floor.
"It’s a step towards the mineral abundance that the American people deserve and that Washington, [D.C.] has denied them for too long," Westerman added.
Stauber, the sponsor, framed access to Minnesota’s deposits as a part of larger national interests.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., speaks during the news conference on the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act in the U.S. Capitol on Jul. 28, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In addition to pollution concerns, Huffman noted that the bill would allow mining access to groups with longstanding interests in the area — some of which, he warned, might not be aligned with national interests.
"Twin Metals, a mining company with close ties to China, has been lobbying for years to set up a mine just outside the wilderness area," Huffman said.
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"There’s no guarantee that the precious minerals produced from this mine would stay in the U.S. at all."
Having passed the House, the measure now heads to the Senate for the upper chamber's consideration.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/only-1-house-democrat-joined-gop-repeal-biden-era-regulation