Gov. Mark Gordon blasted the Wyoming Freedom Caucus this week in a letter and subsequent interview with WyoFile after the hard-line group of Republican lawmakers attacked the governor in an op-ed that, among other things, failed to get basic facts straight regarding Wyoming’s past and present coal-related litigation.
At the center of the dispute lies the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s recent proposal to end future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin — the nation’s largest coal supplier and longtime pillar of Wyoming’s economy.
Gordon blamed the Biden administration for a “lack of regard for the environment, for working people, and for reliable, dispatchable energy,” and promised legal action when, or if, the decision is signed and finalized by the federal government.
Sixteen members of the Freedom Caucus, in turn, blamed Gordon in an op-ed sent to media outlets Wednesday. Multiple outlets published it without noting basic inaccuracies in the piece, including a charge that Gordon vetoed a coal litigation bill in 2018 — before he was even the governor.
The group implored the governor to mount an immediate court challenge, instead of waiting for the state to have legal standing. The group also faulted the governor for a Trump administration decision and a gubernatorial veto from before he was governor.
The Freedom Caucus taking aim at the chief executive is not new, but rather a hallmark of the last several months, including last fall when the group accused the governor of abruptly changing his long-held and publicly touted stance on climate change and energy policy. The governor’s spokesman at the time highlighted inaccuracies in the claims, but avoided going beyond that.
Now, however, Gordon has sharpened his tone and is calling the Freedom Caucus out by name, going so far as to characterize the group’s criticisms as nothing more than a campaign strategy. (Gordon is not up for reelection, but all House members — including the 16 letter signers — and senators in even-numbered districts are.)
“I would say that this election is a really important one and either you’re going to vote for people who find much more value in firing off inaccurate press releases, or you’re going to vote for people who have the best interests of the state at heart and want to work towards that,” Gordon told WyoFile.
“These are not simple issues. And so trying to address them by just making noise isn’t going to help keep people’s jobs. It isn’t going to keep these industries core and it isn’t going to position Wyoming to continue the leadership role that we have.”
Background
In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a deadly blow to Wyoming’s lawsuit against Washington state over a planned coal export terminal there.
The lawsuit, filed by Wyoming’s attorney general and backed by Gordon’s administration in January 2020, alleged Washington violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by halting the development of a proposed coal export terminal, effectively prevented landlocked states like Wyoming from shipping coal overseas.
When Gordon announced in October 2020 that the U.S. Supreme Court had asked the Trump administration’s Department of Justice to file an opinion on the case, many considered it a promising sign after the case had hit several major hurdles.
The Trump administration, however, decided not to file an opinion before leaving office. Subsequently, the Biden administration’s solicitor general asked the court to not take up the case. The court declined to hear it.
Op-eds and letters
In their op-ed, the Freedom Caucus cast the high court’s decision as Gordon’s fault.
“Wyoming’s appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court not on the merits, but on procedural grounds — the state, at your direction, filed our case too late for it to be heard in a timely manner.”
The letter goes on to say, “this came two years after your veto of a 2018 bill to initiate litigation against Washington State for blocking access to the pacific markets who desperately wanted our clean coal.”
Gordon, however, was not governor at that time.
“I shouldn’t have to refute the misstatement about a veto of a bill passed by the State Legislature in 2018. As Treasurer at the time, I had no capacity to do so,” Gordon wrote in his letter. “I was inaugurated as Governor in January of 2019. If you were there, you will remember my State of State indicated we would pursue a commerce clause case against Washington State.”
At that time, only one of the letter signers was a member of the Legislature — Rep. John Winter (R-Thermopolis), who had just begun his first term.
Separately, Gordon blocked lawmakers in 2019 from appropriating $250,000 in order to take legal matters into their own hands on the Washington coal port terminal front. The governor vetoed the bill on the basis that Wyoming needed to speak with one voice, not two — a philosophy similar to the one Gordon used in March to veto the Legislature’s $75 million land-use legal fund.
That kind of approach only causes confusion, Gordon told WyoFile.
“Suddenly, you’re in front of a judge and you’ve got two people purporting to represent the state of Wyoming’s interest,” Gordon said. “That’s of no help.”
Gordon also refuted the characterization that the lawsuit had been untimely.
“Despite persistent efforts on the part of both Wyoming and Montana, the President’s Solicitor did not respond until after the presidential administration changed,” Gordon wrote.
“Thus, the statement made in your inaccurate and misleading letter that the timing of Wyoming’s entrance in this case was the cause of the final unfavorable ruling is categorically false.”
Chief among the Freedom Caucus’ criticism is a demand to take immediate legal action.
“We implore you to step up, fight back, and protect Wyoming, first and foremost by filing a protest with the Bureau of Land Management, and by preparing for a full-fledged legal battle now — not later,” the op-ed states.
Gordon, however, submitted comment letters in November 2022 and August 2023, both of which pushed back on the BLM’s plans.
“Somewhat problematically, to my knowledge, none of the signatories of your letter participated in this public comment period, nor were any present at the public meetings hosted by the BLM in Gillette, according to my staff in attendance,” Gordon wrote in Thursday’s letter. “Please correct me if I am mistaken.”
On the legal challenge front, Gordon said multiple state agencies are currently cooperating and preparing “the most favorable administrative record possible” for “any potential future legal actions.”
“Since the legal experts among the Sixteen Honorable Legislators have become so focused on the timing of case filings, perhaps they might comprehend that no legal action can be taken until a final Record of Decision is signed and the decision is finalized by the federal government,” Gordon wrote.
Filing a suit prematurely, Gordon added, would subject the state “to an easy legal challenge on timeliness that would likely get it dismissed with prejudice.
“Wyoming, you can be sure, will respond forcefully and strategically when appropriate. We are in the trenches fighting while some seem content to just make noise.”
The letter signers include: Reps. Winter, Bill Allemand (R-Casper), John Bear (R-Gillette), Jeremy Hardolson (R-Wheatland), Scott Heiner (R-Green River), Ben Hornok (R-Cheyenne), Chris Knapp (R-Gillette), Chip Neiman (R-Hulett), Pepper Ottman (R-Riverton), Sarah Penn (R-Lander), Rachel Rodriguez-Williams (R-Cody), Daniel Singh (R-Cheyenne), Allen Slagle (R-Newcastle), Scott Smith (R-Lingle), Tomi Strock (R-Douglas) and Jeanette Ward (R-Casper).
What now?
The BLM’s recent action opened a 30-day “protest” period, whereas a final order is due later this year.
Members of the public — and the Legislature — can submit a written protest by visiting the BLM’s Filing a Plan Protest page for instructions. Protests must be submitted by June 17.
This ridiculous op-ed ran in the Thermopolis Independent Record yesterday, also without clarification or reference to the erroneous ”facts”. The Wyo Freedom Caucus Clown Car crashes and burns again! Eh! Oh! Way to go O’Wyo!
Such a good article ,thank you for reporting the facts
Gordon is a hardline RINO!! Wyofile falls in line with the Mainstream press and calls responsible Americans “hardline” when they are pushing the Liberal agenda.
Responsible people don’t perpetuate lies and conspiracy theories.
Responsible people don’t try to force their religious beliefs on an entire population.
Responsible people admit when they don’t have all the facts and can adjust their thinking when new information is presented.
Your definition of responsible is lacking.
They were elected to force the government to manage wombs guaranteeing that they know absolutely zero about how things work. These same people claim the mantle of christianity yet celebrate the Dobbs decision which was achieved by lying about respecting precedent of an obvious Federal Right to get a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. This crew then writes more lies and signs their names to it further indicating these christians ignore the 9th Commandment as easily as they take breaths.
Dobbs disrupted business across the Country and not taking up this argument about the Commerce Clause has the same effect as even I find it ludicrous that the Clean Water Act could be used to prevent shipping black rocks to Asia. Oh well it does go to show that Trump was always lying when he said he would protect Wyoming coal as he had a chance to help, yet failed again. There is nothing new under the sun when you elect the worst possible people to office.
I was wondering how many of the freedom Caucus members are imports from other states , or actually people that have lived in Wyoming most of their lives , and really care bout the people and the land ????????????
Anyone else notice that the signatories are listed in their op-ed in the exact order that they are listed on the “Honor Wyoming” website? Wonder who’s ridin’ herd over this bum steer? Oh, and Gov. Gordon– that was an awesome job scraping the bovine excrement off your boot heal– seems to be nearly impossible to avoid stepping in it around this bunch.
My mother told me if you can’t say anything nice about someone then don’t say anything at all…. She did not mention groups. As a group we need to get these whacko freedom caucus people out of office. They are evil. They are constantly trying to mislead people. They use inaccurate information and they flat out lie. These are not true Wyomingites.
They do not represent Wyoming values, they do not represent a majority of the people in Wyoming and they want to take freedoms away. The last legislature was the worst one I have ever witnessed. I was born in Wyoming 67 years ago so let’s say in the last 50 years it’s the worst one I witnessed. There was so much discourse and arguing and petty fighting. We need to get real Republicans back in office.
We need to have an approach that the world changes and we must also change. We will need fossil fuels For a long time, but we need to continue to find other fuels that are more friendly to the environment. Who knows what will be going on by 2041 but we need to be proactive and not reactive and just say that it’s all bad
The Free Dumb caucus is ruining our state and they are ruining our country. The cause neighbors to fight against each other and families to be broken up For all those people that have voted for them in the past Please take a strong look at their voting records and their lies before you vote for them again. They should be called the controlling caucus or the anti-freedom caucus or…………the caucus of doom
You got to hand it to the Governor, he managed to color the “Sixteen Honorable Legislators” for the doofuses that they are, in a professional and competent way. I’m sorry to say that one of these 16 Legislators is the doofus that represents me.
The freedom Caucus sows discord and chaos everywhere they go. They don’t represent the people of Wyoming but rather their party. They have a loyalty contract with each other and a few make decisions for the rest. It is not free at all.
We the people need to be represented.
I think we need to do due diligence and Stop voting for these radical people
We get the government we vote for.
Pretty sad commentary on Boomer dark money politics and bi-polar media, both evangelic and environgelic. Shallow elitism at its worst. PROMISE WYOMING
The straight out lies won’t sway anyone who supports these clowns. Truth doesn’t matter to the low information voters.
As usual, the Freedom Caucus practices their ready-fire-aim shooting. I wish I was in Jeanette Ward’s district, so that I could vote for Jeanette Jarvis. The one thing I absolutely agree with the Freedom Caucus on is that men & boys can never ever be women & girls (or vice-versa).
Correction: That’s Julie Jarvis.
That’s a nice list of legislators NOT to vote for. Please copy and paste and share with your voting friends. They stand at the microphone on the floor of the Wyoming legislature and read bill responses sent to them from out of state lobbyists, special interest groups, and fanatics of all kinds. They do not have Wyoming’s interests at heart; they are licking the boots of their Demi-gods from who knows where. Please vote them out before they destroy Wyoming!
The non freedom caucus takes it marching orders directly from the elite in DC and DO NOT vote in favor for what’s best for Wyoming and it’s people. They are working a huge national level operations that we don’t need here locally. Please vote out these RINOs and bring back common sense.
To the people of Wyoming who vote these Freedom Caucus folks into office: you are insulting your own integrity, honesty, and intelligence. Turn off Fox News, stop listening to Joe Sixpack down at the bar and start doing your own thinking.
Fred Maguire: Amen! Well said!
Agree. Yes, turn off Fox commentators, stop listening to Joe Sixpack at the bar, and don’t believe all A1 misinformation Get the dates right! We need our “government” social security and Medicare. Thank you Gov. Gordon for being more moderate than the “Freedom caucus” extremists.
Wonderful reply!
Fred, You nailed that right in the bullseye. I’m glad Governor Gordon called them out. Pretty much everything the Freedumb Caucus puts out in misleading, if not downright false.
Amen
Intellectual Honesty. I sure wish the Freedom Caucus members, specifically John Bear, would practice what they preach.
…or hit the delete button on Bear’s sermons.
Just a correction to note that one can only file a protest to a RMP if they participated in the comment period and can demonstrate legal standing. From the Buffalo RMP eplanning website: “The protest procedures in 43 CFR 1610.5‐2 provide the public a final opportunity to identify issues with the BLM State Director’s proposed land use planning decisions for administrative review by the BLM Director. Protests may be filed by any person who participated In the planning process and has an interest that may be adversely affected by the State Director’s decisions (43 CFR 1610.5‐2(a)). To file a protest, you must provide all the required information listed at 43 CFR 1610.5‐2(a)(2) with your submission, including your name, mailing address, and telephone number. The BLM may dismiss as invalid any protest that does not include the information listed in 43 CFR 1610.5‐2(a)(2).”