Outraged over 'illegal' wetlands rule, a GOP senator blocks dozens of Trump nominees

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Keith Sonderling as secretary of Labor on Wednesday, marking one of the few Trump administration picks to get through the upper chamber recently after a North Dakota senator put a hold on “any and all” nominees. 

But the Senate left town late Wednesday for its weeks-long campaign break and is not scheduled to return until after the midterms in November. 

Dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees remain held up amid Sen. Kevin Cramer’s outrage over a Biden-era rule dealing with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easements that Cramer says harm his state’s property owners.

Those nominees on hold include Kari Lake, the 2024 Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, as ambassador to Jamaica and Sean Kaufman to serve as assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the Department of Health and Human Services, among others. 

Senators also have a slew of unfinished business to address once they return from their recess for the lame-duck session, and the consideration of nominees would compete with other matters for floor time, potentially dragging out the timeline even longer.

Sonderling — confirmed as Labor secretary, 47-41, along party lines — took on the acting agency head role in April after former Oregon U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid misconduct allegations.

Aside from Sonderling, Cramer — generally a stalwart Trump ally — has only allowed Chris Klomp’s nomination to serve as deputy secretary of HHS to move forward. 

Klomp’s bid, which advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee in late September, has yet to reach a vote on the Senate floor. 

“No other holds have been lifted, because my landowners need results, not commitments,” Cramer said in a statement shared with States Newsroom. 

The GOP senator’s hold only covers Trump’s nominations and does not include military promotions. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., conducted one of the most highly publicized blanket holds in recent years on hundreds of military promotions for most of 2023 in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy.

A “hold” on a nomination in the Senate is an informal practice, used by members of both parties, where a senator signals their intent to object to confirming a nominee via unanimous consent. 

Those unanimous consent agreements allow the Senate to fast-track consideration and take up nominees without the need to hold a roll-call vote. 

Wetlands rule

Cramer’s hold began in August over a 2024 federal wetlands rule enacted under then-President Joe Biden’s administration, which Cramer blasted as “illegal” and “an affront to private property rights,” per the statement to States Newsroom.  

Cramer said the rule stands in violation of those rights by creating enormous setbacks for drain tile from wetland easements, North Dakota Monitor reported. 

The regulation affects the Prairie Pothole Region, a wetlands area in the northern Great Plains that encompasses a large portion of North Dakota and is a key habitat for wildlife, including ducks and geese. 

Parts of Iowa, Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota are also included in the region.

Cramer said the rule “needs to be thrown out and farmers need clear guidelines to end the threat of harassment from the federal government.” 

He added that “the White House knows all of this, but the ball is in their court to act, not mine.”

Some movement

However, Cramer has been willing to incrementally lift the holds as he sees progress from the Trump administration, with Sonderling and Klomp as examples.

Part of that progress includes a September announcement from the Department of the Interior that the Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS, would “incorporate feedback from North Dakota farmers, ranchers and conservation partners as it updates and expands an innovative Prairie Pothole Wetland pilot project addressing landowner concerns — particularly with wetland easements purchased prior to 1976.” 

Cramer said that “from the beginning, I told the White House I would be as flexible as they would be.” 

He added that “since then, we’ve had two meaningful meetings where North Dakota’s farmers educated the administration on the land grab the FWS has perpetuated in the Prairie Pothole region.” 

In response to a request for comment on Cramer’s holds, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers doubled down on Trump’s nominees, saying the president is “nominating talented patriots to successfully carry out his America First agenda.” 

Rogers added that “under President Trump’s leadership, these nominees will continue to deliver major wins for the American people.”