GOP Sen Threatens Trump’s Nominations Over Conservation Policy That Inflamed Property Owners

Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer put a hold on “any and all” of President Donald Trump’s nominees until the administration agrees to change a wetland conservation policy, his office confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) abandoned its planned changes to a wetland conservation policy intended to protect waterfowl habitats, which prevents farmers from installing underground agricultural drainage tiles near protected federal easements. Cramer’s hold could delay the White House’s effort to install Project 2025 author Dennis Kirk as the next inspector general at the Interior Department and others nominated to serve at the Health and Human Services Department and the National Science Foundation, according to Politico’s E&E News.

Cramer expressed frustration with the FWS’ decision to keep the current protection in place, arguing that they impede landowner and private property rights.

“Frankly, I am stunned,” Cramer said in a statement obtained by the DCNF. “The blind defense of a Biden rule favored by environmental extremists at the expense of farmers confounds me, particularly at a time when our ag producers are hurting so badly. Rising fuel and fertilizer costs resulting from limited traffic in the Strait of Hormuz along with lost international markets have put farmers on their heels. Now they can’t even count on the administration to defend them against radical environmental activists who are advocating for the feds to take more of their land.”

“I am also suspicious of the timing of this action, coming immediately after I agreed to vote for a wealth manager to be the Assistant Secretary of Interior that oversees these issues,” Cramer continued. “Even though he admitted to knowing nothing about waterfowl easements in North Dakota, I was fooled into believing as a business person he was going reform regulations, not support Biden’s. My farmers are furious and so am I. There won’t be another nominee confirmed until something changes.”

A U.S. senator can place a hold on nominations through an informal Senate practice, which allows lawmakers to tell party leaders they will object to moving the nominee forward by unanimous consent. The informal procedural tool halts fast-track approval, forcing the majority leader to dedicate lengthy floor time to formal voting procedures to confirm the nominee.