Lawsuits over new Utah monument to test president’s power

This 2017, file photo shows an aerial view of Arch Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Native American tribes and environmental groups preparing a legal battle to stop President Donald Trump from dismantling Utah's new national monument will face a tougher challenge than anticipated.

Letter: Get youth involved

My family knows relatively little about the subject of climate change - but we have been listening and are willing to learn. Recently, our 15-year-old daughter Hannah was given the opportunity to accompany a nonprofit group to Washington, D.C. She and other volunteers from around the country lobbied members of Congress and their staff members about legislation addressing potential solutions to our changing climate.

Lawmakers upset but won’t stop process to replace Chaffetz

Utah lawmakers said that that they won't interfere with a special election to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz this year but they believe Gov. Gary Herbert stepped outside of his constitutional role and into the Legislature's by deciding the election's timing and process. Lawmakers contend that Utah's executive branch can only set the date of an election and it's the Legislature's role to decide things like how political parties can pick their nominees and how long candidates have to file.

Utah GOP faithful backs ex-legislator for Chaffetz’s seat

Former Utah lawmaker Chris Herrod speaks during a special convention Saturday, June 17, 2017, in Provo, Utah. Herrod won the vote of about 800 state Republican delegates in a race to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz in Congress, advancing to an August primary election.

Utah GOP to trim packed field running for Chaffetz seat

About 1,000 Utah Republicans will gather for a special convention Saturday to cut down a field 12 candidates vying to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz and advance one candidate to an August primary election. Chaffetz announced earlier this year he's resigning at the end of June, leaving an enticing open seat for Republicans in what's considered one of the most conservative congressional districts in the country.

Chaffetz out as Oversight chairman as Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, steps in

As he prepares to leave the U.S. House at month's end, Rep. Jason Chaffetz is no longer chairman of one of the more powerful and high-profile committees in Congress. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., was installed Tuesday as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, taking over a perch that Chaffetz had worked hard to obtain but is now leaving as part of his resignation from office.

S.L. mayor, Utah senators jockey for Trump’s ear on monuments

The Democratic leader of Utah's capital city and a pair of Utah Republican congressmen were jockeying for the president's ear on public lands Friday. The jostling comes as U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke considers whether the president should shrink or rescind Utah's national monuments.

Chaffetz resignation latest twist in GOP oversight of Trump

As Chairman of the House Governmental Oversight Committee , Rep. Jason Chaffetz was a determined investigator of the Obama administration and of Hillary Clinton 's use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State. That looked like it was changing this week when reports emerged that former FBI director James Comey had taken notes after Trump privately asked him to end a probe into his former National Security Adviser before firing Comey.

‘Behind the Headlines’: Chaffetz and Comey, Chaffetz and Herbert, Huntsman and Russia

Rep. Jason Chaffetz invites former FBI Director James Comey to testify publicly over a memo regarding a special request from President Donald Trump. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman awaits nomination as ambassador to Russia more than two months after accepting the job.

US Interior secretary tours hotly contested Utah monument

Protesters chant in favor of the Bears Ears National Monument as vehicles leave the Gateway Shopping Mall near the Bureau of Land Management office, where U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was speaking ... . Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, introduces U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to speak at a news conference after having met with members of the Bears Ears Commission at the Bureau of Land Management ... .

US Interior secretary begins Utah tour to eye monument sites

This May 23, 2016, file photo, shows the northernmost boundary of the proposed Bears Ears region, along the Colorado River, in southeastern Utah. The re-evaluation of the new Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is part of President Donald Trump's executive order calling for a review of 27 national monuments established by several former presidents.

US interior secretary starts Utah red rocks monuments review

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will start a four-day Utah trip Sunday to assess whether 3.2 million acres of national monuments in the state's southern red rock region should be scaled down or even rescinded. The re-evaluation of the new Bears Ears National Monument on sacred tribal lands and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, created in 1996, is part of an executive order signed last month by President Donald Trump's calling for a review of 27 national monuments established by several former presidents.

Monuments under the microscope: Subcommittee debates designations

An undated photo of an Ancestral Puebloan ruin site within the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a two-hour plus oversight hearing on the merits and detriments of monument designations, particularly Bears Ears and Grand Staircase in Utah comprising more than three million acres.