The resolution heads to President Trump’s desk, clearing a path for Twin Metals’ long-stalled copper-nickel mine in the Rainy River headwaters of the BWCAW.
The U.S. Senate voted 50-49 on Thursday to pass H.J. Res. 140, a Congressional Review Act measure that nullifies the 20-year mineral withdrawal protecting 225,504 acres of Superior National Forest land in the Rainy River Watershed—headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The House passed the resolution 214-208 in January, and it now heads to President Trump, who is expected to sign it.
Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine joined every Democrat in voting no. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri did not vote. The roll was called at 11:54 a.m.
What the Resolution Overturns
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7917 on January 26, 2023, withdrawing 225,504 acres in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis counties, Minnesota, from disposition under federal mineral and geothermal leasing laws for 20 years, subject to valid existing rights. The order covers lands in the Rainy River Watershed—not the BWCAW itself, but the upstream ground whose waters feed the Wilderness and flow through Voyageurs National Park.
The Forest Service grounded the withdrawal in an environmental assessment that drew approximately 225,000 public comments across two comment periods, three virtual public meetings, and two Tribal consultations, with the vast majority supporting protection. The final assessment concluded that mineral development in the watershed would threaten the ecological integrity of the BWCAW and downstream Voyageurs National Park.
The Fisheries at Stake
The BWCAW spans 1.1 million acres and encompasses nearly 2,000 lakes in northeastern Minnesota. It supports native lake trout alongside walleye, smallmouth bass, and northern pike, and its interconnected waters—more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes—make it the most-visited wilderness area in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Corey Fisher, public lands policy director at Trout Unlimited, said the vote puts the BWCAW’s native lake trout and cold, connected streams at risk. “Science is clear: this is no place to risk perpetual pollution from acid mine drainage,” Fisher said.
Sulfide-ore mining produces sulfuric acid when ore bodies and tailings are exposed to air and water, a risk federal agencies and conservation groups have long flagged as incompatible with an interconnected watershed like the Rainy River system.
Twin Metals and Antofagasta
The repeal clears a path for Twin Metals Minnesota—a subsidiary of Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta—to revive its long-stalled copper-nickel mine proposal on Birch Lake near Ely, Minnesota. Twin Metals holds mining claims in the Duluth Complex, which the company calls the world’s largest known undeveloped copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals deposit.
Twin Metals spokesperson Kathy Graul said in a statement that “a significant portion of these resources were locked up as a result of the mineral withdrawal enacted in 2023,” and the company “looks forward to a robust discussion and engagement with our communities through any future regulatory processes.”
Reuters reported last year that Antofagasta agreed to have its copper processed at Chinese smelters at no cost—a record low for the industry—with the refined copper then sold on the global market by China.
An Unprecedented CRA Maneuver
The mechanism Congress used reaches beyond Minnesota. H.J. Res. 140 marks the first time Congress has overturned a public land order through the Congressional Review Act, a law designed to let Congress rescind recent agency rules by simple majority—bypassing the 60-vote threshold that would otherwise apply in the Senate.
“If and when President Trump signs this indefensible bill, it will mark the first time a mineral withdrawal was killed by the Congressional Review Act,” said Blaine Miller-McFeeley, senior legislative representative at Earthjustice. “More and more, corporate polluters and their friends in Congress are using this arcane law to force through deeply unpopular policies that sell out our public lands.”
Under the CRA, once Congress nullifies a rule, no “substantially similar” rule can be issued without new congressional authorization. A future administration cannot reimpose the withdrawal without an act of Congress.
Reactions
Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), who introduced the resolution January 12, called the vote “a major victory for America and for Minnesota’s families and workers.” In a statement, Stauber said: “Never again can any Democrat President or administration unilaterally ban mining in this vital portion of the Superior National Forest, killing jobs and locking away trillions of dollars of critical minerals essential to our way of life.”
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) held the Senate floor for nearly three hours Wednesday night in protest before the measure moved to Thursday’s roll call. Ahead of the vote, Smith said: “You can support mining, but that does not mean that you support every mine in every place. We can support the need for mining, but that doesn’t mean that we mine on the edge of Chaco Canyon or on the rim of the Grand Canyon. And it does not mean that we think that a copper-sulfide mine on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters is a good idea.”
Smith also questioned the legality of the CRA move, signaling possible litigation: “I question the legality of what Congress did because they clearly did not follow the process that is laid out in the law that governs public land orders.”
Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, called the outcome “a dark day for America’s most beloved Wilderness area, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and a stark warning call for public lands nationwide.”
What’s Next
Once Trump signs the resolution, the repeal reopens the 225,504 acres to mineral leasing. Twin Metals would still need to clear state and federal permitting for any mine plan. The Trump administration has already signaled support: Deputy Interior Secretary Katherine MacGregor signed a memo last summer reversing a 2022 legal opinion that had invalidated the company’s earlier leases. Conservation groups are weighing legal challenges to the CRA maneuver and to any lease reinstatement that follows.
