©2026 League of Conservation Voters
Representative Nick Begich (R-AK) sponsored H.J.Res. 131, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval, which would reverse the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2024 Record of Decision (ROD) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program. The CRA is an extreme and blunt tool that is being used by anti-environmental members of Congress who want to permanently strip away protections for our environment, communities, wildlife, and natural heritage. The Arctic Refuge is one of America’s wildest and most ecologically important places. It is home to critical habitat for caribou, polar bears, wolves, migratory birds, and many other species, along with subsistence areas vital to local and Native communities. The Coastal Plain of the Refuge is one such area, and provides critical calving ground for the Porcupine caribou herd, an important resource for the Gwich’in people. The Record of Decision (ROD) for the Coastal Plain leasing program was developed through a public process and protects 1.2 of the 1.6 million acres of the Coastal Plain from harmful oil and gas development. The Trump administration has already taken action to reverse many of the safeguards in the 2024 ROD and open the Coastal Plain to drilling. This CRA goes beyond that by also potentially keeping BLM from issuing any similar ROD in the future, throwing our land management system into chaos by hamstringing the agency’s ability to issue management guidance. On November 18, the House approved H.J.Res. 131 by a vote of 217-209 (House roll call vote 295). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate approved H.J.Res. 131 on December 4, and the president signed it into law on December 11.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters