Charleston, WV – Last week, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Senator Martin Heinrich(D-NM) led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in calling on U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt to remove William Perry Pendley from his role leading the Bureau of Land Management. It has been reported that Mr. Pendley will continue to exercise the authority of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management despite reports last week that the White House will be withdrawing his nomination.

“For the same reasons that Mr. Pendley is unfit to be confirmed as director, he is unfit to exercise the authority of the director without being confirmed, and we ask that you remove Mr. Pendley from this position. Mr. Pendley’s long public record of advocacy for selling off public lands and reducing access to them, attempts to undermine tribes and tribal sovereignty, and denial of climate change make his beliefs and actions antithetical to either role.” wrote the Senators in part. “The Bureau of Land Management requires a qualified leader who supports public lands and the bureau’s critical role in administering them for the American people.”

Read the full letter below or click here.

Dear Secretary Bernhardt:

We are pleased to hear that the President has decided to withdraw Mr. William Perry Pendley's nomination to be director of the Bureau of Land Management. We have grave concerns, however, with reports that Mr. Pendley will continue to lead the bureau through his current position as deputy director, exercising the authority of the director. For the same reasons that Mr. Pendley is unfit to be confirmed as director, he is unfit to exercise the authority of the director without being confirmed, and we ask that you remove Mr. Pendley from this position. We also call on the President to nominate a qualified director for consideration through the regular confirmation process.

Mr. Pendley’s long public record of advocacy for selling off public lands and reducing access to them, attempts to undermine tribes and tribal sovereignty, and denial of climate change make his beliefs and actions antithetical to either role. His role in the mismanagement of public assets during his first tenure at the Department of the Interior raises serious questions about his fitness for any federal position. The Bureau of Land Management requires a qualified leader who supports public lands and the bureau’s critical role in administering them for the American people.

We urge you to remove Mr. Pendley from his position leading the Bureau of Land Management.

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