5 House Republicans say they will vote against GOP megabill over public land sales

(The Hill) A group of five House Republicans says it will vote against the GOP’s tax and spending bill over provisions in the Senate version that would mandate the sale of land owned by the federal government.

“We support the OB3 passed by the House and generally accept changes to the bill that may be made by the Senate. However, we cannot accept the sale of federal lands that Senator [Mike] Lee seeks,” wrote GOP Reps. Ryan Zinke (Mont.), Mike Simpson (Idaho), Dan Newhouse (Wash.), Cliff Bentz (Ore.) and David Valadao (Calif.).

“If a provision to sell public lands is in the bill that reaches the House floor, we will be forced to vote no,” they added.

Zinke has publicly said he would not support the bill if it mandates the sale of public lands, but a group of five would be enough to actually prevent the bill from passing, since Republicans can only afford to lose three House votes if every Democrat remains opposed as expected.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-house-republicans-vote-against-215627756.html