"Republicans have a clear path to open national monuments to mining and fossil fuels by tossing out Biden-era conservation plans, but legal analysts say such a move would risk legal chaos.

Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) is considering using the Congressional Review Act to toss out the Biden administration’s 2025 Bureau of Land Management plan for Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Maloy asked the Government Accountability Office last year whether the management plan is a “rule” that is subject to the CRA. The office responded in its report issued this month that the plan is a rule, and therefore, Congress can throw it out.

Congress over the last several months has passed resolutions under the CRA disapproving BLM management plans developed by the Biden administration for non-monument federal lands in Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana. Prior to 2025, Congress had never overturned any land management plan using the CRA.

Using the CRA on a national monument is unprecedented, and a clear way to chip away at its protections, analysts say."

Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment February 2, 2026. [2]