Public Lands Chief Hangs on Despite Nomination Getting Nixed

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A former oil industry attorney will continue for now calling the shots at a government agency that oversees nearly a quarter-billion public acres in the U.S. West.

That's despite the White House saying over the weekend that President Donald Trump would withdraw the nomination of William Perry Pendley.

A document obtained by The Associated Press shows Pendley’s reign over the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management will continue under an arrangement that Pendley himself set up months ago.

He signed an order in May that makes his own position the bureau’s default leader while the director’s post is vacant.

Details of the succession plan prompted Democrats on Wednesday to renew calls for Pendley's removal.