What Does Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Say About Selling Public Land?

President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to pass a piece of legislation that has been dubbed the Big Beautiful Bill, something Trump fans believe will be a crown jewel in the start of the president's second term. However, many have fallen out of love with the Big Beautiful Bill after seeing that it includes language about selling off public land.

Public land is property that is owned and managed by the U.S. government, and it's typically open for the recreational use and enjoyment of the American people.

Here's everything we know about the land being discussed, and what could happen if the millions of acres of property is put up for sale to the highest bidder.

According to The Herald News, the Big Beautiful Bill looks like it includes a proposal to require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to sell nearly 3.3 million acres of land. The bill requests that the acreage be used for housing, which could be appealing to those who are hoping to alleviate the pains being felt as a result of the housing crisis.

The bill would require land that is within a certain distance from population centers to be considered, and a fact sheet quoted by The Herald News explains the reasoning for this proposal.

“There is a nationwide shortage of approximately 4 million homes and a shortage of 7 million affordable homes,” the fact sheet reads. “Unlocking federal land for housing will develop millions of single-family homes, resulting in greater housing supply and making housing more affordable.”

While the Wilderness Society estimates that the U.S. could lose up to 250 million acres of public land, the Big Beautiful Bill is not expected to include the National Parks, designated wilderness areas, or national monuments, which should keep some more well-known places safe.

However, it does appear that 11 western states will be forced to part with at least some of their land, and the list includes Utah, Washington, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Alaska among others.

There has been pushback on this idea from both sides of the aisle, proving how important retaining public land seems to be to both republican and democratic lawmakers, according to CNBC.

As of June 27, 2025, the Big Beautiful Bill was expected to go through a rewrite as the House and Senate try to come together to make changes more in line with things that both legislative bodies can agree on.

Trump has given the House and Senate a July 4 deadline, and said that neither group can break for the holiday weekend until the bill has been passed. However, many House members have pushed back on the changes the Senate has made to the bill, and some Senators are refusing to pass the bill based on the proposed cost alone.

The public land sale is likely to face extra scrutiny from the lawmakers located in the western states that are expected to have to sell of the most land as part of the deal, potentially dragging things out even longer.