II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4836 

To prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts that 

an individual exercising the authority of the head of an agency for 

more than a year, regardless of their title, is not in violation of the 

Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 21 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. ROSEN, and 

Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate 

courts that an individual exercising the authority of the 

head of an agency for more than a year, regardless 

of their title, is not in violation of the Federal Vacancies 

Reform Act of 1998. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Lands Leader5 ship Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) William Perry Pendley is not an appropriate 

2 choice to lead, work in, or advise any public land 

3 management agency due to his record prior to his 

4 employment at the Bureau of Land Management, 

5 and his continuing work there; 

6 (2) Mr. Pendley has a lengthy and public record 

7 supporting the transfer and privatization of public 

8 land, including the 245,000,000 acres and 

9 700,000,000 subsurface acres he oversaw as de facto 

10 Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Manage11 ment; 

12 (3) Mr. Pendley has pursued the development 

13 of natural resources on public lands at the expense 

14 of Tribal consultation, public comment, and reason15 able oversight; 

16 (4) Mr. Pendley has professionally advocated 

17 for oil and gas leases issued in the Badger-Two 

18 Medicine area, despite the leases being issued with19 out consultation with the Blackfeet Nation, and de20 spite the later decision of the Department of Interior 

21 to cancel the leases; 

22 (5) Mr. Pendley has opposed and litigated pub23 lic access to streams and rivers in Montana through 

24 his professional opposition to the Montana Stream 

25 Access Law; 


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1 (6) Mr. Pendley has expressed public support 

2 for armed insurrection against the agency he 

3 oversaw as de facto Acting Director of the Bureau 

4 of Land Management; 

5 (7) Mr. Pendley has publicly opposed bedrock 

6 public lands laws that protect the land he oversaw 

7 as de facto Acting Director of the Bureau of Land 

8 Management; 

9 (8) Mr. Pendley has made disparaging racial 

10 comments, indicating he does not intend to serve the 

11 entire citizenry equitably and without prejudice; 

12 (9) Mr. Pendley has openly mocked the cultures 

13 and traditions of Tribal nations, demonstrating his 

14 inability to serve as a reliable Federal partner for 

15 Tribes and to uphold the trust and treaty respon16 sibilities of the Federal Government; 

17 (10) Mr. Pendley has reversed course on dec18 ades of collaborative efforts by private landowners, 

19 ranchers, State and local governments, and other 

20 stakeholders to protect rangeland ecosystems and 

21 the greater sage grouse; 

22 (11) Mr. Pendley has issued problematic Re23 source Management Plans in Montana and other 

24 States that fly in the face of large-scale public oppoVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4836.IS S4836

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1 sition to prioritizing energy development over col2 laborative conservation efforts and other activities; 

3 (12) despite his problematic record, Mr. 

4 Pendley served in the top leadership role at the Bu5 reau of Land Management for over a year, and con6 tinues to be retained in a senior position; 

7 (13) Mr. Pendley served as Deputy Director for 

8 Policy and Programs exercising the authority of the 

9 director of the Bureau of Land Management for 424 

10 days; 

11 (14) Mr. Pendley was the de facto Acting Di12 rector of the Bureau of Land Management during 

13 this period, regardless of his specific title; 

14 (15) the extended role of Mr. Pendley at the 

15 Bureau of Land Management is a clear violation of 

16 sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5, United 

17 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Va18 cancies Reform Act of 1998’’), as determined by the 

19 United States District Court for the District of 

20 Montana, and undermines the constitutional respon21 sibility of the Senate to review nominations for agen22 cy leadership; 

23 (16) on September 25, 2020, the United States 

24 District Court for the District of Montana ruled that 


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1 the lengthy tenure of Mr. Pendley as de facto Acting 

2 Director was illegal; 

3 (17) Mr. Pendley continues to operate in a sen4 ior leadership role at the Bureau of Land Manage5 ment; 

6 (18) the Department of Interior continues to 

7 employ Mr. Pendley, and has publicly stated its in8 tention to contest the court ruling; and 

9 (19) the failure of the President to advance a 

10 formal nominee for the position of the Director of 

11 the Bureau of Land Management for congressional 

review and confirmation over the past 31 12 ⁄2 years sig13 nificantly undermines the constitutional responsi14 bility of the Senate to provide advice and consent on 

15 all offices of the United States. 

16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DOJ EFFORTS TO ADVOCATE COURTS 

17 TO PROTECT THE ROLE OF WILLIAM 

18 PENDLEY AS DE FACTO ACTING DIRECTOR. 

19 The Department of Justice may not, in Bullock v. 

20 United States Bureau of Land Management, No. 4:20– 

21 cv–00062–BMM, 2020 WL 5746836 (D. Mont. Sept. 25, 

22 2020), advocate that an individual exercising the authority 

23 of the head of an agency, regardless of their title and serv24 ing without congressional consent for over a year, is not 

25 in violation of sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5, 


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1 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Va2 cancies Reform Act of 1998’’). 

Æ 


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