ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 25, 2020
A federal judge ruled Friday that President Trump’s leading steward of public lands has been serving unlawfully, blocking him from continuing in the position in the latest pushback against the administration’s practice of filling key positions without U.S. Senate approval. U.S. Interior Department Bureau of Land Management acting director William Perry Pendley served unlawfully for 424 days without being confirmed to the post by the Senate as required under the Constitution. Pendley, a former oil industry attorney, was illegally overseeing an agency that manages almost a quarter-billion acres of land.