Trump’s budget bill criticized for ‘heist’ of Alaskan wildlife refuge

A sweeping budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday mandates massive oil and gas lease sales across Alaska’s public lands—including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR–A)—a move environmental advocates are calling one of the most aggressive land sell-offs in modern U.S. history.

“This bill is a heist—plain and simple,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League. “It would sell out our most ecologically significant public lands in the Arctic to the highest bidder … It’s reckless, it’s shortsighted, and it’s an insult to the Indigenous communities who have stewarded these lands for generations.”

The bill requires four lease sales in ANWR over the next decade, each covering at least 400,000 acres, including the ecologically vital Coastal Plain, calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou and sacred to the Gwich’in Nation. It also mandates five sales in NPR–A, each offering around 4 million acres and includes six offshore lease sales in Cook Inlet.

The Alaska Wilderness League warns that more than 20 million acres of public lands are now at risk—calling it a direct attack on Indigenous sovereignty, biodiversity and climate progress.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski cast the decisive 50th vote in favor of the bill after negotiating billions in rural healthcare and Coast Guard funding for her state. The tie was broken by Vice President JD Vance.

What Comes Next

The bill heads to the House for a vote later today, where environmental and Indigenous groups are lobbying hard to stop its passage. Legal challenges are also in preparation, should the bill become law.

“We’re not buying it, and neither should the American people,” Miller said. “The fight to protect Alaska’s Arctic is far from over.”