GOP lawmakers demand Biden appointees who have accepted ENGO jobs to recuse themselves from pending business

FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are calling for political appointees who have already announced roles in outside environmental organizations next year to recuse themselves from pending business, citing “conflicts of interest” concerns. 

In a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Tuesday, shared first with Fox News Digital, the Congressional Western Caucus demanded the agency identify people who are planning to join an environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) and that they recuse themselves from pending business in their current government role. The caucus, made up almost exclusively of Republicans, seeks to be a “voice for rural America,” according to its website. 

The letter specifically named President Biden’s BLM director, Tracey Stone-Manning, who recently announced that after the administration ends, she will assume the role of president of The Wilderness Society, an environmental group working against development, such as mining and drilling, on public lands.

“While we are not surprised to learn of this career move, we are strongly concerned about the conflict of interest that has arisen given the competing missions of her current job and her future job,” the letter read.

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Tracy Stone-Manning during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington on June 8, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call)

The letter argued that given the “objectives and practices” of The Wilderness Society, her new position poses a conflict as Stone-Manning leads the government agency.

“Over the last four years, the American West has suffered greatly as the BLM has imposed policies straight from the playbook of the BLM Director’s future employer,” the lawmakers wrote of The Wilderness Society. “Across the west, those who live near and rely on public lands for their economic livelihood have suffered from new resource management plans that choose preservation over multiple use.”

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Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, who led Tuesday’s letter alongside Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital in a statement that BLM should not conflict with the interests of the public.

Rep. Dan Newhouse penned the letter to BLM alongside Sen. Cynthia Lummis. (Tom Williams)

“The role of BLM is to fairly administer the multiple-use mandate for America’s public lands, a mission at odds with the agenda of extreme environmental groups who want to lock up our lands,” Newhouse said in a statement shared with Fox. “For this reason, I have joined my colleagues in demanding any political appointees at the agency recuse themselves from pending official business if they have accepted future positions at ENGOs as this presents a conflict of interest.”

Other Republicans cosigning the letter included Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Steve Daines of Montana, and Mike Lee of Utah, along with Reps. Doug LaMalfa of California, Western Caucus executive vice chair, and Ryan Zinke of Montana.

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Fox News Digital reached out to BLM for comment but did not receive a response by press time.