H.R. 4090 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Critical Mineral Dominance Act
Cosponsors: 2 (0 D, 2 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-08
Introduced: 2025-06-23
Latest action (2026-07-15): Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held.
What H.R. 4090 does, in plain terms
Critical Mineral Dominance Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to address mineral supply chain vulnerabilities, including by accelerating and expanding mineral production on federal land (i.e., National Forest System land, public lands, and any land that may be leased for the exploration, development, or production of hardrock minerals). Interior must (1) identify priority mining projects on federal lands that can be immediately approved, and (2) take all necessary and appropriate steps to expedite those projects. Interior must also identify active, inactive, or proposed mining projects on federal land that have the potential to (1) increase production of hardrock minerals or their byproducts, (2) expand existing operations to include such byproducts, or (3) produce hardrock minerals from mine tailings or coal byproducts. Further, Interior must identify certain federal land with potential for hardrock mining. Interior must prioritize identifying land where a mining project (1) can most quickly be fully permitted and operational, and (2) would have the greatest potential effect on the robustness of the domestic mineral supply chain. Interior must (1) suspend, revise, or rescind agency actions that place undue burdens on mining projects; (2) recommend changes to current law necessary to expand U.S. production of hardrock minerals; and (3) review state and local laws that impede development of domestic mining and mineral exploration projects. Interior must also report on the dollar value and overall economic impact of the United States' reliance on imports of certain mineral commodities. Finally, Interior must prioritize efforts to accelerate geologic mapping.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-08
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
Constitutional management of federal property with no rights limits, no private taking, and no upward power shift. Grounded in Article IV property power and foreign commerce study, this mineral plan earns top marks.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
Authority rests on Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, giving Congress power to dispose of and make rules for territory and property belonging to the United States, which covers mining on National Forest System land and public lands. Reporting on import value is supported by Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 on commerce with foreign nations. No regulation of purely intrastate non-federal activity is man… -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
No provision directs restriction of speech, religion, press, assembly, arms, searches, or other rights in Amendments 1-10. The bill addresses permitting and review of mining on federal land and study of supply chains. No censorship, seizure of private persons, or compelled testimony is authorized. First Amendment and Fourth Amendment are not implicated. -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
The bill does not restrict personal conduct, speech, belief, labor, or use of private property. It opens federal acreage to production and reduces administrative burdens, which widens rather than narrows lawful private labor and enterprise. Government bears no added justification burden under the Ninth Amendment and Tenth Amendment because no individual freedom is curtailed. -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
The action concerns management of federal land, which under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 belongs to federal stewardship. Individuals, counties, and states cannot permit mining on National Forest System land or public lands owned by the United States. The bill does not transfer state or local authority upward; direction to review state and local laws is only a report, not preemption. Minimum nec… -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
No deprivation of life, liberty, or property under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and no taking of private property for public use without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause. Expediting permits on federal land and mapping geology do not seize private parcels. Suspension or revision of agency burdens refers to executive actions, with judicial review still open under…
Sources: Congress.gov: HR 4090 summary
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