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A bitterly divided US Senate panel found itself deadlocked Thursday over choosing President Joe Biden to oversee vast government-owned land in the West, as Democrats stood united behind a candidate whose credibility has was attacked by Republicans for its links to a 1989 environmental sabotage case.
The 10-10 tie on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sets up a floor vote on the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning. Every Senate Republican and at least one Democratic lawmaker would have to block their confirmation in the equally divided chamber.
At stake is the leadership of the Home Office’s Land Management Office, which oversees power generation, recreation and other activities on nearly a quarter of a billion acres of public land, mostly in the West.
Tracy Stone-Manning listens during a confirmation hearing for her to be the director of the Bureau of Land Management, at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources on Capitol Hill on June 8.
(PA)
STONE-MANNING MAY BE BREACHED ETHICS, FEDERAL LAW WITH A 2008 VERIFIED PERSONAL LOAN
Stone-Manning was a key aide to former Democratic Montana Governor Steve Bullock and most recently worked as the National Wildlife Federation’s vice president. His advocacy for land preservation contrasts sharply with the priorities of the land office under former President Donald Trump, which accelerated oil and gas drilling approvals and sought to open up new land for development.
Washington state Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said fierce opposition to Stone-Manning among Republicans was rooted in her potential to make changes to the agency.
“It’s overblown opposition,” Cantwell said. “What’s really on trial here is the future of America’s crown lands … oil, gas, coal, mining.”
Republican lawmakers focused on Stone-Manning’s links to the 1989 sabotage of a timber sale in Idaho’s Clearwater National Forest, calling her an “eco-terrorist” unfit to oversee the land office. She was then a 23-year-old graduate student in environmental studies at the University of Montana.
Two of Stone-Manning’s friends were convicted more than four years later for inserting metal spikes into trees, making it dangerous to cut them down. She was granted immunity from prosecutors and testified against them.
WHY DID THE AIR QUALITY IN THESE STATES BETTER?
She has never been charged with any crime.
Stone-Manning admitted to patching up and sending a letter on behalf of one of the convicted men who warned authorities not to log into the sabotaged area. She did not come forward until the criminal case was continued several years later and said she was afraid of one of the defendants.
A former Forest Service investigator alleged last week that Stone-Manning was the target of the criminal investigation and helped plan the heading of trees. Others involved in the case, including the lead prosecutor, contested this qualification.
“It was not a light offense that she conspired in,” said Republican Senator from Utah, Mike Lee. “People are injured and killed by this kind of behavior.”
Energy committee chairman Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., said he looked closely at the case and found no evidence Stone-Manning was directly involved or committed a crime . He said her decades in public service and environmental advocacy work made Stone-Manning a good fit for the office.
“I think Tracy Stone-Manning is a young environmental supporter,” said Manchin, whose reputation as a moderate made her vote closely watched. “There is no evidence that she is guilty of any of those things we have been talking about.”
Republican lawmakers sought to dramatize Stone-Manning’s involvement by wielding metal spikes similar to those used in the 1989 sabotage at Thursday’s hearing.
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Republican Senator from Idaho, James Risch, called it an “attempted murder” because of the risk of the spikes harming loggers. The remark drew a sharp rebuke from New Mexico Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich, who said he was disgusted by the Republican “lies” and attempts to smear Stone-Manning.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said Thursday he would call a vote on his nomination before the full Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris could break the tie for confirmation.
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