| Updated: Jan. 27, 2021, 10:07 p.m.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee with an assist from Sen. Mitt Romney again is pushing legislation attempting to block presidents from creating or expanding national monuments within Utah, unless Congress and the state Legislature approve.
Democratic President Barack Obama designated the Bears Ears monument in 2016 at the urging of Native American tribes, and President Bill Clinton set aside Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996 by using the Antiquities Act despite significant opposition from Utah’s Republican politicians. Trump then used the same law to slash the monuments, although legal challenges are still in the courts about whether that power is allowed in the Act.