Governor Steve Bullock filed a lawsuit Monday against William Perry Pendley, who has essentially served as the vacant director since his appointment as deputy director last summer.
The Office of Land Management is responsible for one-tenth of the land mass of the United States and 700 million acres of underground resources, such as oil, gas, and minerals.
Bullock is a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and is currently running to topple Republican Senator Steve Daines. (Bullock has a limited time to seek reelection as governor.)
“It has nothing to do with running for the Senate,” Bullock told CNN in a phone interview Tuesday. “This has to do with public lands that are essential to Montana … And it’s about the Constitution and federal law.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Montana, claims that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s temporary delegation of authority in Pendley violated the Constitution’s requirement that top officials submit to Senate confirmation.
“This is a frivolous and politically motivated claim that has no legal capacity,” said spokesman Conner Swanson, speaking on behalf of the Department of the Interior and the Office of Land Administration. “Governor Bullock should do a little research before wasting everyone’s time on this nonsense.”
But the Interior Department says Pendley has never been officially named the agency’s “acting” chief. Instead, the agency describes it as “exercising the authority of the director.”
Bullock told CNN that he does not believe the court should issue a temporary order blocking Pendley to run the agency as the legal fight unfolds. Bullock has not moved for such an order, but it is the type of request that other plaintiffs commonly sue federal agencies.
“It shouldn’t be something a court should do,” said Bullock. Instead, she expects the administration “to acknowledge that she is serving illegally and to confirm it. If she is good enough to run the agency, she is good enough to vote.”
Pendley is a controversial figure to head the agency. It previously called for the sale of all federally owned land and dismissed environmentalists’ concerns. He also led the agency when it closed its Washington, DC, headquarters and relocated staff to a new Colorado headquarters and other offices. Critics said the move was intended to weaken the agency’s influence, but the administration said it would bring the agency’s leadership closer to the land they manage.
The lawsuit is at least the second challenge for the Pendley office leadership. The government has until mid-September to respond to a challenge presented earlier this year by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
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