The Senate parliamentarian ruled that measures to mandate public land sales and accelerate approvals for new oil and gas leases must be stripped from Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, handing another win to Democrats in the Senate.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled late Monday that these provisions, as well as several others put forth by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, violate the Byrd Rule, which limits what sort of measures can be included in budget reconciliation. 

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Republicans have been seeking to use budget reconciliation to advance President Donald Trump’s tax and spending agenda. This process allows fiscal legislation to bypass the filibuster. 

The Byrd Rule, which only applies to actions from the Senate, requires that any provisions included in reconciliation must be primarily fiscal in their effects. 

“Democrats continue to show up and fight every provision of this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill, because this bill is an attack on workers and families everywhere,” Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said in a statement.

“Democrats will not stand idly by while Republicans attempt to circumvent the rules of reconciliation in order to sell off public lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” Merkley added. “We will make sure the Byrd Rule is followed and review any changes Republicans attempt to make to the bill.”

Specifically, the parliamentarian ruled that Republicans cannot include a provision requiring offshore oil and gas leases to be issued to successful bidders within 90 days after a sale, a measure requiring the permitting of the construction of a controversial mining road in Alaska, a provision nullifying the environmental review processes for offshore oil and gas projects, a measure removing the interior secretary’s discretion to reduce fees for solar and wind projects on federal lands, a provision that requires yearly geothermal lease sales, and a measure that would allow natural gas exporters to pay a fee for expedited approvals. 

The parliamentarian also rejected Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) controversial proposal to mandate the sale of as much as 3 million acres of public land from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. 

Lee has faced backlash from both Republicans and Democrats over the proposal since it was introduced earlier this month. 

As pressure grew from conservative groups like the American Conservation Coalition and Nature is Nonpartisan, Lee promised to modify the measure. 

In a post to X Monday evening, Lee teased the changes, saying he would remove sales of all Forest Service land and reduce the amount of BLM land eligible for sale to areas within five miles of population centers. 

It remains to be seen if this modified provision would be accepted by the parliamentarian. 

Republicans can also work to modify the other provisions rejected on Monday, though Senate leadership faces a tight deadline of July 4 to get the entire reconciliation passed and on the president’s desk.

Though it marks a major win for Democrats looking to soften blows to the renewable companies and curb handouts to the fossil fuel industry included in the legislation. 

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Late last week, the parliamentarian also sided with Democrats in ruling that measures to repeal vehicle emissions rules and create an accelerated permitting program would need to be stripped from the package. 

The parliamentarian has still yet to rule on provisions that would boost oil and gas leasing and drilling in Alaska as well as mandatory approvals of new coal lease applications.