WASHINGTON — Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) has introduced legislation to reverse a Biden administration order that withdrew 225,000 acres of federal land in northern Minnesota from mineral development, using a procedural tool that lets Congress nullify executive actions without a Senate filibuster.

The 2023 order, Public Land Order 7917, sealed off an area containing what experts call "world-class deposits" of cop nickel, cobalt and platinum-group metals—some of the largest undeveloped reserves globally.

The withdrawal halted planned mining operations. Proponents of development argued it would meet global demand for minerals used in consumer electronics and military equipment. The decision faced opposition from House members, mineral companies and local residents citing lost economic opportunity.

Public land orders are a blunt executive tool: the Interior Department can unilaterally close vast federal tracts to resource extraction with a single signature. In this case, the order protected an area five times the size of Washington, D.C. without congressional debate or public input.

Stauber and other Republicans argue the order exceeded presidential authority. The federal government controls about 640 million acres, roughly 28 percent of U.S. land, traditionally managed for multiple uses including responsible resource extraction.

The Congressional Review Act gives Congress a mechanism to strike down agency rules. Although such orders are technically designated as "land orders," they function as binding rules with broad economic impact, making them eligible for CRA challenge. Congress has rarely used the tool historically—fewer than 1 percent of finalized rules—but the current 119th Congress has accelerated its use, rescinding 22 rules so far. Those repeals reduced regulatory burdens by more than $130 billion, according to backers, including the reversal of California's EPA electric vehicle waiver.

A CRA resolution targeting the Minnesota order would bar any future administration from issuing a substantially identical order. Critically, CRA resolutions bypass the Senate filibuster, streamlining passage.

The effort reflects a broader Republican push to reassert congressional control over land-use decisions. As public lands have increasingly been governed through temporary executive orders rather than lasting legislation, some lawmakers argue the practice has drifted from constitutional intent.