Land Bureau’s Top Official Serving Unlawfully, Court Rules (1)

William Perry Pendley has been serving unlawfully atop the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management and can no longer act as the agency’s de facto leader, a federal court ruled Friday.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana sided with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), finding that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s indefinite delegation of director duties to Pendley violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

“Pendley has served and continues to serve unlawfully as the Acting BLM Director,” Chief Judge Brian Morris wrote. “His ascent to Acting BLM Director did not follow any of the permissible paths set forth ...