"Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has put a hold on all four pending Interior Department nominees over the Trump administration’s plans to potentially shrink multiple national monuments.

Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, disclosed his hold Wednesday in a letter to the Interior Department, after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent a public letter complaining about the confirmation process.

Durbin and three other Democrats on Oct. 23 asked for a meeting with Zinke about the secretary's recommendations to President Trump to shrink national monuments. Such a meeting has not yet been held or scheduled."

Timothy Cama reports for The Hill November 8, 2017. [2]