Questions Conflicted BLM Nominee “Selloff Steve” Pearce Must Answer

Written By Jack Merritt

Selloff Steve Faces Senate Confirmation Hearing Tomorrow Despite Disqualifying Conflicts of Interest and Interior Dept. Corruption

HELENA, MT – Tomorrow, February 25, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by anti-public lands Utah Sen. Mike Lee, will hold a confirmation hearing for “Selloff Steve” Pearce, Donald Trump’s conflicted and controversial nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Pearce, the nearly 80 year-old former New Mexico congressman and twice-failed statewide candidate, has spent his entire career advocating for the sell off of public lands while maintaining deep financial ties to the industries he would be “regulating.” The BLM manages 245 million acres of public lands and some 700 million acres of the public’s mineral resources. 

The BLM nominee’s hearing will follow new reporting exposing the massive problems and inconsistencies within Burgum’s Interior Department’s Ethics Office. Pearce’s own inadequate ethics agreement revealed he somehow plans to maintain his decades-long ties to his family’s oilfield services business by simply transferring it to his wife. Between his oil and gas business interests, oil leases, stake in Lea County State Banks, and frac tank rentals, Pearce made upwards of $1 million last year from industries he would oversee and make decisions on as head of the BLM.

“Throughout his career, Steve Pearce has tried to sell off our public lands. It’s part of who he is and what he values, which should be disqualifying in itself for any U.S. Senator. Add that Pearce is riddled with conflicts of interest that are obscured by his inadequate ethics agreement, and it’s clear that this troubled nominee should be resoundingly rejected,” said Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill. “Our shared public lands are part of every American’s birthright and heritage. Once they are transferred or sold off, they are gone for good, along with the billions in economic activity generated across the country through outdoor recreation. Not only should committee members demand answers at his hearing, but, with history as a guide, Senators should avoid getting duped again by another conflicted and corrupt nominee like Selloff Steve Pearce.”

Here are 6 key questions “Selloff Steve” must answer:

  1. Why do you support selling off public lands that generate billions in economic activity and support hundreds of thousands of jobs?

  2. How can Americans trust someone named one of Congress’s “most corrupt members” to oversee public lands?

  3. Will you commit to protecting the BLM’s multiple-use mission and civil servants, or will you defund the ethics office to protect yourself?

  4. How is transferring ownership of your businesses to your wife sufficient to meet the bureau’s and federal government’s ethics requirements?

  5. Will you commit to fixing the discrepancies in your financial disclosures and inadequate ethics agreement, including providing a list of all companies you do business with that might be impacted by BLM decisions?

  6. Will you commit to recusing yourself and your family from all BLM matters and decision-making that might impact your former customers and businesses?

Additional Resources:

To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com. 

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Jack Merritt
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