Articles

Obama cannot extend his rule indefinitely : how Trump can reverse Obama’s midnight land grabs

January 03, 2017 | By TODD GAZIANO

Last weekend, The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed that Professor John Yoo and I wrote to answer the White House’s claim that Trump can’t reverse President Obama’s recent proclamations that lock up millions of acres of public land from reasonable public uses. Yoo and I plan to publish an expanded paper on our study … ...

Articles

Is the ocean "land owned or controlled by the Federal government"?

March 07, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

As President Obama’s final term came to a close, he engaged in what has unfortunately become a favorite pastime for lame duck Presidents: trying to build a legacy by abusing the Antiquities Act. President Obama was the Barry Bonds of this abuse, shattering his predecessors’ records. All told, he declared more than 550 million acres  ...

Articles

Weekly litigation report — March 11, 2017

March 11, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Going to sea to challenge a National Monument We filed this complaint challenging President Obama’s lame-duck designation of 5,000 square miles of ocean off the Massachusetts coast to be a new national monument under the Antiquities Act. We simply don’t think that an area in the ocean the size of Connecticut can qualify as a monument ...

Articles

Are all of Obama’s national monuments permanent? A new AEI paper says no

March 27, 2017 | By TODD GAZIANO

A few weeks before he left office, President Obama abused the Antiquities Act of 1906 again to proclaim 1.35 million acres in Utah and 300,000 acres in Nevada to be new national monuments. White House officials claimed that both monuments were “permanent” because there was no express authority to reverse them. … ...

Articles

President Trump orders review of 21 years of Antiquities Act abuse

April 26, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, President Trump issued an executive order requiring the Department of Interior to review 21 years of national monument designations. That review is long overdue. For decades, Presidents have treated the Antiquities Act as a blank check to shut down productive activity over vast areas, in the belief that doing so will establish their ...

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Law professors argue the President can't revoke national monuments (and implicitly that Congress can't either)

May 16, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

We’ve written a lot lately about past Presidents’ abuse of the Antiquities Act and President Trump’s opportunity to reconsider some of those abuses. A few weeks ago, the President issued an executive order calling for a review of 21 years of monument designations, suggesting that he may use his power to revoke past designations. N ...

Articles

PLF urges the Administration to reverse Antiquities Act abuses

May 26, 2017 | By JEFF MCCOY

As readers of this blog are aware, many Presidents have abused their power under the Antiquities Act to prevent productive use on federal lands (and on the ocean). President Trump has ordered a review of several of these Monuments, and the Department of the Interior has solicited comments from the public. Yesterday, PLF submitted comments … ...

Articles

Weekly litigation report — May 27, 2017

May 27, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

PLF urges the Administration to reverse Antiquities Act abuses  We submitted comments to the Department of Interior regarding its review of the Bears Ears National Monument. The Monument, like several others made in the past twenty years, is not a small reservation of land to protect historic artifacts. Instead, it prevents multiple and productive ...

Articles

Interior Secretary Zinke recommends Bears Ears reduction

June 14, 2017 | By JEFF MCCOY

Ryan Zinke, the Secretary for the Department of the Interior, recommended a reduction in the size of the Bears Ears National Monument, consistent with comments PLF sent to the Secretary last month. … ...