Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) made a motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 776, which would reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 through fiscal 2030. This law enables the U.S. Department of the Interior to provide funding to states in order to eradicate nutria — large, invasive, semiaquatic rodents native to South America — and restore wetlands damaged by them.
The House agreed to Westerman’s motion on February 4, 2025 by a vote of 361 to 56 (Roll Call 29). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to establish or fund conservation programs. The 10th Amendment reserves any such powers to “the States respectively, or to the people.”
