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Only one House Democrat joined Republicans on Wednesday in a vote to repeal a Biden-era regulation on public lands in Minnesota.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., passed in a 214-208 vote.
Rep. Jarred Golden, D-Maine, voted in favor of the legislation while one Republican, Don Bacon, R-Neb., voted against it.
The public lands bill is the most recent in a string of regulations Republicans have undone in the 119th Congress — accounting for at least 10 such measures in 2025.
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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.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden was a keynote speaker at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference and Expo at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday, Jul. 2, 2025 in San Diego. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
“America’s national security depends on securing our own critical minerals — not just relying on imports from adversaries,” Stauber said in a post to X.
“We must unleash domestic production, including in Minnesota’s Iron Range, to power our military, energy grid and future [technology.]”
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According to the Minnesota government website, the state has rich deposits of gold, silver, zinc, copper, nickel, titanium and other precious metals.
Democrats opposed to the measure argued that it would open up Minnesota’s land to development, casting aside safeguards for environmental protections.
That was the position of Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.
“The Boundary Waters have been under threat for years,” Huffman said, referring to the area near the northern tip of the state. “They draw more visitors than any other wilderness in the country. Millions of Americans have paddled, fished, swum and found pristine solace in [its] forests. It supports a billion-dollar outdoor economy.”
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.
