Congress moves to undo Montana BLM land-use plan in procedural vote
S.J.Res. 61 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to "Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment". · Filed by Steve Daines (R-MT) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 10, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This resolution uses the Congressional Review Act to disapprove and nullify a Bureau of Land Management resource management plan amendment for the Miles City Field Office (issued November 2024). If passed, the rule will have no legal force and the prior management plan reverts to its pre-amendment state.
Why we flagged it
This is a procedural CRA resolution that voids a specific BLM resource management plan amendment. It is a one-sentence legislative instrument with no room for hidden provisions—the operative mechanism is disapproval under 5 U.S.C. § 802.
What the text implies
- Voiding the amendment restores the prior Miles City Field Office management plan, which may have different provisions on grazing, mineral leasing, conservation, or public access—the resolution does not specify what regime is restored.
- The GAO opinion (June 25, 2025) determined the amendment is a 'rule' under the CRA, triggering the 60-day disapproval window; this resolution acts within that window but the GAO's reasoning is not reproduced here.
- If passed, the BLM cannot reissue the same rule without new rulemaking; however, the agency could pursue alternative management approaches that do not trigger CRA review.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The civic effect depends entirely on what the voided amendment contained—whether it expanded or restricted public access, environmental protections, or resource extraction. The resolution itself is procedurally transparent but the underlying policy trade-off (what management regime citizens prefer) is not disclosed in this text.
Who stands to gain
- livestock producers (if prior plan permitted grazing)
- mineral extraction companies (if prior plan permitted leasing)
- conservation groups (if prior plan restricted development)
Named in the bill
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Miles City Field Office, Government Accountability Office (GAO), Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) — Daines, Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. Chapter 8)
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jul 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 10, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Oct 7, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,801 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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