Amodei outrages NV congressional colleagues with ‘dead of night’ federal land sales amendment

House Republicans approved a last-minute amendment early Wednesday morning to sell off nearly 450,000 acres of public lands in Nevada, sparking outrage among Democrats and conservation groups.

After more than 11 hours of debate in the U.S. House National Resources Committee, Nevada’s sole Republican in Congress, Rep. Mark Amodei, introduced the amendment as part of the Republicans’ budget package. The amendment passed the committee on a 24-19 vote along party lines.

“Nevada population centers are all encumbered by federal land that can’t meet their housing and development needs without disposal of federal lands. Unlike most other states, Nevadans rely on Congress to make these lands available,” Amodei said to committee members. 

Amodei’s amendment brought harsh condemnation from his Nevada congressional colleagues.

The amendment would order the sale of more than 65,000 acres of public land in Clark County identified for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management in resource management plans, but not yet sold.

It would also allow the sale of nearly 16,000 acres of public land in Washoe County, 12,000 acres in Lyon County, and the sale or exchange of more than 350,000 acres in Pershing County in order to resolve the checkerboard spread of public and private land in the county.

Public lands included in the amendment would need to be sold within 2 years of the proposal’s passage.

The amendment, which Amodei introduced along with Republican Rep. Celeste Maloy of Utah, would also compel the sale of about 11,000 acres of public land in Utah. 

Income generated from the sale of Nevada’s public lands in the amendment would not fund projects in Nevada, as portions of federal land sales income have in the past. Instead it would be siphoned to the U.S. Treasury to help cover the Trump administration’s proposed tax cuts, according to the amendment.

Amodei said the Congressional Budget Office estimates the “amendment would generate billions in federal revenue.”

Republicans are looking to pass their larger budget package, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” by Trump, through the budget reconciliation process, which allows the Senate to pass legislation on fiscal matters with a simple majority vote.

Amodei, who represents much of Northern Nevada, acknowledged Nevada’s other representatives whose districts cover Clark County, do not support the amendment, but argued the public lands included in the amendment were identified by the four counties referenced in the proposal.

“This is a Nevada-centric amendment drafted and requested by Nevadans,” he said during the marathon hearing.

Democrats on the National Resources Committee strongly criticized the inclusion of the last-minute amendment as part of the Republicans’ budget package, characterizing the amendment as “stupid,” “slapdash,” “deeply irresponsible,” and “some truly odious sausage.” 

“This is just some truly odious sausage at 11:20pm at the end of a long markup, and to do it over the opposition of … other members of Congress who actually, represent these areas,” Ranking Member Jared Huffman of California said.

“This is unacceptable,” said New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury. “This is disgusting. This is stupid.”

Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado urged the committee not to allow the provisions related to Clark County to pass without input from Nevada’s other representatives, whose districts cover Clark County. 

“Give those other members of Congress an opportunity to weigh in here, at least be heard, as opposed to an 11 o’clock PM, last minute amendment that they’re just finding out about right now as we’re texting them,” said Neguse. 

Neguse characterized the amendment as unprecedented and asked if Amodei had consulted with Democratic Reps. Steven Horsford, Susie Lee and Dina Titus from Southern Nevada before introducing the amendment.

“I don’t know how it works in Colorado, sir, but I can tell you, in Nevada, we all talk frequently, and this is not going to come as a surprise to any of them,” Amodei said. “Please feel free to consult them.”

Amodei ‘throwing Nevadans under the bus’

Nevada congressional Democrats told a very different story, in which Amodei pushed his amendment through the House Natural Resource Committee without consulting them..

Nevada’s Democratic federal delegation repeatedly called the amendment an attempt to sell off the public lands in Nevada for the purpose of funding the Trump administration’s proposed tax cuts.

Lee said Amodei’s amendment was “a slap in the face to Nevadans,” calling it a “short-sighted and bad faith proposal.”

“In the dead of night, Rep. Mark Amodei led House Republicans in throwing Nevadans under the bus — advancing legislation to pay for their disastrous tax bill by selling off Nevada’s public lands,” Lee said in a statement.

“For decades, federal law has ensured that proceeds from land sales in southern Nevada stay in Nevada. Last night’s traitorous maneuver instead would send Nevada’s land proceeds to Washington to pay for tax cuts for billionaires,” she continued.

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus said any “proposals to sell public lands should be done openly because public lands belong to all of us.”

“The land would be sold for ‘billions’ and the money would go directly to the U.S. Treasury with no financial benefit for outdoor recreation, protecting critical ecosystems, or wildfire protection in Southern Nevada,” Titus said in a statement.

Democratic U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen joined their counterparts in the House in condemning the amendment, vowing to oppose the proposal in the Senate. The amendment is part of a larger budget package that needs to pass the full House and Senate before landing on Trump’s desk for approval.

Cortez Masto called the proposal “insane” and said it was “one of the single biggest sell-offs of Nevada public lands in history.”

“In the dead of night, Representative Mark Amodei pushed House Republicans to move forward with an insane plan that cuts funding from water conservation and public schools across Nevada,” Cortez Masto said. “This is a land grab to fund Republicans’ billionaire giveaway tax bill, and I’ll fight it with everything I have.”

Cortez Masto said the amendment ignores her bill, the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, a bill years in the making that would open 25,000 acres of land in Clark County to development while conserving nearly 2 million acres.

Rosen said Amodei “sold out Nevadans in the dead of night by passing a flawed, hastily-drafted proposal.”

“I will not support a Washington-drafted proposal that will lead to Nevada losing out on millions of dollars in funding for our local priorities like education and restoration around the Truckee River, all so Republicans in Washington can pay for more tax cuts for billionaires,” Rosen said in a statement. 

Rosen likewise said the amendment undermines the Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act, a bill she crafted that would make nearly 16,000 acres of public lands in Washoe County available for sale while conserving another nearly 948,000 acres.

Amodei’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the criticism from his Nevada congressional colleagues.

Conservation groups said the proposal would only encourage more sprawl and unsustainable growth in a region with two-decades of severe drought. 

“We can’t fill Lake Mead with rhetoric about tax cuts and housing,” said Kyle Roerink, the executive director of the Great Basin Water Network.

For years, Nevada’s federal delegation had attempted to pass their own public lands bills in Congress, with no success. 

Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said that’s because the sale of public land for development is “deeply unpopular.”

“It puts Las Vegas on a collision course with a bleak future of taps running dry, unbreathable air, and disappearing wildlife. So instead, Mark Amodei is using the cover of night to hand over our public lands to his buddies in the real estate industry while he thinks nobody is watching,” Donnelly said.