An order by the chief judge of the Montana federal court on Friday not only ousted William Perry Pendley as the top official at the Bureau of Land Management but might also invalidate a wide range of decisions he took to open up vast parts of the American west to oil and gas drilling.
Pendley has been effectively serving as BLM’s acting director even though President Trump never sent his name to the Senate for confirmation, Judge Brian Morris said in his order. The judge gave the Interior Department and the plaintiffs in the case 10 days to submit examples of actions Pendley took that might be set aside...