Paul Cushing
Lesson: Three branches of the Federal Government work as a system of Checks and Balances.
Assignment: Provide an example of Checks and Balances.
"The Congress shall have Power.... To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, cover such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United Sates, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;" - Article I, Section 8, cl. 1, 17
The mere fact that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) exists is a hotly contested debate. The BLM currently governs over 1/8th of America's land mass. It's size and scope clearly go against the U.S. Constitution's limitation on the federal government's ownership of land. The U.S. Federal Government has no technical authority to acquire land within state boundaries, beyond the exceptions of property necessary for carrying out its enumerated powers, such as military bases, port offices, or housing and offices for federal employees. The U.S. Constitution further outlined that the federal government has a duty to dispose of unneeded property within a state's borders.
"The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or any particular State." - Article IV, Section 3, cl. 2
This duty has clearly not been upheld, as the federal government retains large acreages of land, especially in western states. These facts justified the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s and 1980s.
Various bills have been proposed since 1932 to dispose of the federal land, all of which garnered little attention or action. Understandably, the Federal Government wished to retain ownership of these grand areas of land.
In 1979 serious land transfer legislation efforts began anew, headed by Senator Orrin Hatch, his bill would allow for the federal government to retain ownership of National Parks and allow states to apply for control over selected parcels of land. Since the bill avoided the major objections to prior proposed bills, it received more attention than its predecessors. The bill never passed.
With the election of Ronald Reagan, legislation to grow the federal government's ownership of land was slowed and the Sagebrush Rebellion was considered to be over.
However, this contest over land continues today. Along the Red River of Texas and Oklahoma, for example, BLM attempted to seize privately owned property from deeded landowners despite lacking any real authority to do so. Texas Governor Abbot took action against the BLM and that attention led the BLM to withdraw their attempt to expand their ownership.
Similar cases can be further exhumed by researching incidents. The Hammond family arson trial, the Bundy family stand-off and the death of LaVoy Finicum are more recent examples that made national headlines.
Due to the involvement of the Federal Government in these incidents they are steeped in political agendas. It takes a very deep dive to find the truth behind the mass media headlines. I encourage readers to look into BLM's involvement and the use of federal authority against its own citizens. Further, I would encourage readers to remember the checks and balances our nation's Founding Fathers intended.
A closer look into the practiced authority of the BLM leads to an eye-opening disregard for our nation's checks and balances. The BLM has proposed and approved its own legal policies, while employing its own federal law enforcement officers to enforce such policies. They receive funding from the Federal Legislature and rely on the Federal Courts to pursue legal action and resolve legal disputes.
These federal checks and balances are not acting as they should. BLM governs over property within state lines and their disputes are usually with private citizens and state governments. So rather than the federal branches balancing and checking itself, it's left up to both private citizens and state government to contest federal actions.
The power of the individual or state government is not equal to the power of BLM with its unlimited budget, staff of lawyers and administrators. The current balance is in fact, unbalanced.
"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department, the necessary constitutional means, and personal motives, to resist encroachments of the others." - Federalist 51, Feb 6, 1788
Unfortunately, the means to resist actions by the Bureau of Land Management are not equal to the authority of the BLM, which is supremely ironic, due to the lack of constitutional authority the BLM technically has.
Convention of States is the only mechanism to restore equality to the citizen and their states.
