Opinion

After a new president takes office, they have hundreds of jobs to fill. As a general rule, presidents can hire whomever they choose. But when it comes to the highest-level positions, the Constitution gives the U.S. Senate the opportunity to offer “advice and consent” on a president’s nominees.

A few weeks ago, I made my first post-pandemic road trip across Nebraska driving from Lincoln to Scottsbluff and then back to Lincoln a couple days later. It was great to see the crops growing, the traffic whizzing by and even the billboards beckoning me to stop and see what I had been missing all these months.

A week after taking office, President Biden signed Executive Order 14008 that set a goal “of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.” This goal is also known as 30 x 30. The order parrots the policy goals of radical environmental groups. For years, environmental groups have sought government support for policies that are harmful to agriculture and a productive economy.