January 20, 2021
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President Biden will review former President Donald Trump’s downsizing of naitonal monuments in the southwest including Bears’ Ears considered sacred to Native Americans. (Supplied Photo)
By Brady McCombs And Patrick Whittle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY- President Joe Biden said Wednesday he plans to review the Trump administration’s downsizing of two sprawling national monuments in the American Southwest, including one on lands considered sacred to Native Americans who joined environmental groups in suing when the boundaries were redrawn in 2017.
The new Democratic president also plans to ask the Department of the Interior to reassess a rule change that allowed commercial fishing at a marine conservation area off the New England coast. The move was heralded by fishing groups and decried by environmentalists.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an order initiating boundary reviews of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which his predecessor Donald Trump had reduced by 2 million acres as a political favor to Utah politicians in 2017.
Jan 20, 2021
FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2016, file photo, cyclists race along the scenic Byway 12 above the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument during the Tour Of Utah bike race. President Joe Biden said Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, he plans to review the Trump administration s downsizing of the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in southern Utah. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, File)
By BRADY McCOMBS and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) President Joe Biden said Wednesday he plans to review the Trump administration’s downsizing of two sprawling national monuments in the American Southwest, including one on lands considered sacred to Native Americans who joined environmental groups in suing when the boundaries were redrawn in 2017.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that aims to prevent his administration officials from joining the lucrative Washington influence industry shortly after leaving the executive branch.
Biden’s ethics rules prohibit officials who leave the administration from lobbying the executive branch or registering as foreign agents for two years. Unlike past presidents’ ethics pledges, Biden’s plan looks to crack down on “shadow lobbying” where former government officials influence policy but don’t register as lobbyists. The executive order prevents ex-officials from communicating with administration officials for two years after leaving government. It also prohibits senior officials from holding out to lobby or assisting with lobbying activity for one year.
What Is Executive Order 13770? Trump’s Reversal On Ethics Order Explained
KEY POINTS
The president rescinded an executive order he issued on lobbying
It was one of his last acts as president
In one of his final acts in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that rescinds a previous declaration meant to make good on his promise to “drain the swamp.”
Signed late Tuesday, his final full day in office, Trump issued an executive order rescinding one of the first orders he signed when he became president in 2017.
The declaration in question, Executive Order 13770, had barred federal appointees from lobbying the government or working for a foreign government for five years after leaving office. Such work would require them to register as a foreign agent.