Jackson Hole News & Guide: Wyoming delegation betrays ideals of Reagan

Note: This op-ed was originally published in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

I was raised in California in a home steeped in public service and Republican values. My father was deeply involved in the California Republican Party and a close friend of Nancy and Ronald Reagan. As a young man, I was fortunate to know them personally. My parents were frequent guests at the White House during President Reagan’s two terms, and we came to know him as more than a political figure.

Ronald Reagan, the man I knew, was a deeply moral human being. He was a man of faith, humility and character. He was thoughtful and wrestled with the complexity of his decisions. He sought counsel from trusted advisors, including my father, who often engaged in lengthy conversations with him before major speeches or policy decisions. That was the kind of leader he was — not perfect, but grounded in principle. And that mattered.

Today, I look at Republicans in Congress, including our Wyoming delegation, and I wonder: Where did those values go, and why do our representatives remain silent when our Constitution faces unprecedented threats?

In the first 100 days of this Congress, we’ve witnessed a disturbing pattern of overreach and abdication of responsibility.

Most recently, Congressional Republicans, including Wyoming’s delegation, threw their support behind a provision buried in a federal spending bill that would have forced the sale of millions of acres of federal land in 11 states, including Wyoming. While this provision ultimately was dropped, the damage has been done: Wyoming’s delegation didn’t just fail to oppose it — they actively supported it. In doing so, our own representatives didn’t merely agree to sell off invaluable parts of our heritage, they abandoned their principles and betrayed their duty to Wyoming and its people.

This thwarted federal land grab exemplifies a broader failure of leadership. Rather than serving as principled stewards, our Wyoming delegation — and the current Republican Party broadly — is stripping local communities of their voice, placing decisions solely in the hands of Washington insiders. I cannot reconcile this with the Republican Party I grew up with or the values President Reagan upheld — values we, as citizens, still hold dear.

What concerns me most is that this land proposal represents part of a larger pattern of democratic erosion where the people’s voice is systematically sidelined. Whether through executive orders issued without meaningful oversight, or legislation passed through procedural loopholes, the result remains the same: Americans are being cut out of the process. It is widely understood that the recently passed omnibus bill contains numerous provisions that most Americans are unaware of and would find deeply troubling if they knew the details.

To our delegation, Sens. Barrasso and Lummis and Rep. Hageman: You may claim to honor Ronald Reagan’s legacy, but the party of Reagan I personally knew stood for integrity, constitutional duty, and the principle that government should serve the people, not bypass them.

We implore you: Protect our Constitution. Defend our public lands. Honor your oaths. Return to the values that once defined the Republican Party: public service, moral clarity and a deep respect for the American people. This means showing up for and diligently protecting public lands, not selling them off.

The people of Wyoming are watching. And we deserve better.

John Carney is an architect and cofounder of the design firm Prospect Studio. He is a former Teton County commissioner and a founding member of the Council for American Democracy, which advocates for nonpartisan reforms that bolster our democracy.