Insider Grazing Waiver at Interior Threatens Climate

Our public lands should be a powerful tool to fight climate change—not a playground for industry insiders. But the Trump administration granted a rare ethics waiver to Interior official Karen Budd-Falen, allowing her to work on grazing policy despite documented financial ties to the industry.

According to reporting, Budd-Falen had previously been recused from grazing-related matters due to conflicts linked to her family’s ranching operations. However, Interior officials later issued a waiver giving her broad authority to participate in grazing policy and permitting decisions—even as her family maintained significant interests in public lands grazing.

This is exactly the kind of conflict federal ethics rules are designed to prevent.

Concerns about potential conflicts are not new. Ethics watchdogs have raised questions about a multimillion-dollar water rights deal involving Budd-Falen’s husband and the developer of the Thacker Pass lithium project. The deal occurred while Budd-Falen served in a senior Interior Department role, and the project itself required federal approvals from the agency.

Watchdogs and policymakers have warned that situations like these can undermine public confidence and raise serious questions about whether federal ethics standards are being fully upheld.

This is not just an ethics issue—it’s a climate issue.

Cattle grazing on public lands contributes to methane emissions and can degrade ecosystems when not properly managed. It can damage soils, reduce biodiversity, and weaken the ability of public lands to store carbon and support climate resilience. At a time when we must strengthen climate solutions, policies affecting public lands must be guided by the public interest—not private financial ties.

Public lands belong to all of us—not to politically connected insiders.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum must act immediately to rescind this ethics waiver and restore strong conflict-of-interest protections. Ensuring that public lands decisions are free from undue influence is essential to maintaining public trust and protecting our climate. 

We cannot allow conflicted officials to shape climate-critical policies behind closed doors. Our public lands—and our climate future—are too important to be compromised.

The petition to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reads: Rescind the ethics waiver granted to Karen Budd-Falen and fully enforce federal ethics rules governing conflicts of interest. Ensure that decisions about public lands grazing are made in the public interest—not influenced by personal financial ties—and protect our climate and ecosystems from harmful, biased policymaking.
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Sources:

E&E News | Interior official with ties to lithium mine granted rare ethics waiver | https://www.eenews.net/articles/interior-official-with-ties-to-lithium-mine-granted-rare-ethics-waiver/

High Country News | Top Interior official recused herself from grazing matters. That’s not stopping her. | https://www.hcn.org/articles/top-interior-official-recused-herself-from-grazing-matters-thats-not-stopping-her/

Society of Environmental Journalists | Trump DOI issues sudden waiver allowing Budd-Falen work on grazing | https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-doi-issues-sudden-waiver-allowing-budd-falen-work-grazing