Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) appears headed for confirmation as President Biden’s Interior Secretary after the last holdout among Senate Democrats announced he’ll support her.
“While we do not agree on every issue, she reaffirmed her strong commitment to bipartisanship, addressing the diverse needs of our country and maintaining our nation’s energy independence,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said in a Wednesday statement.
“I believe Deb Haaland will be a Secretary of the Interior for every American and will vote to confirm her,” Manchin added.
“Manchin is not only the evenly split Senate’s swing vote, he also chairs the committee that oversaw Haaland’s nomination, so his support [was] particularly crucial to her advancement,” says The Hill.
Manchin’s decision came after a two-day confirmation hearing, during which he and some Senate Republicans pressed her on the issue of fossil-fuel extraction — oil and gas drilling, coal mining — on federal lands, mostly in western states.
Haaland, a member of New Mexico’s Laguna Pueblo, is the first Native American to be nominated to a cabinet post. She calls herself “a 35th-generation New Mexican.”
Haaland has a long history of conservation and support for and opposition to oil and gas pipelines and the extraction method called fracking on federal lands.
But she conceded during the hearing that the U.S. will need fossil fuels for many years.
“There’s no question that fossil energy does and will continue to play a major role in America for years to come,” she said in her opening statement, adding “I know how important oil and gas revenues are to fund critical services.”
“But we must also recognize that the energy industry is innovating, and our climate challenge must be addressed.”
As Interior Secretary, Haaland will be responsible for the management of most federal land, which total millions of acres, and the natural resources it holds. She’ll head agencies ranging from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Geological Survey to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service.
Asked during the hearing why she wanted to take on such a huge job, Haaland referenced the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, saying the first piece of code they used was the Navajo word for “Our mother” for United States, reports Yahoo News.
“You’ve heard the Earth referred to as Mother Earth,” she added. “It’s difficult to not feel obligated to protect this land. And I feel every indigenous person in the country understands that.”
