The Senate confirmed Deb Haaland – a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in New Mexico – as President Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Interior Department. Haaland’s confirmation marks the first Native American to be appointed cabinet secretary in history, overseeing the department that manages public and tribal lands.
The Senate vote to confirm on Monday fell mainly on the party lines, 51-40, with nine members losing the vote. During his hearing, Haaland received aggressive Republican resistance from senators whose states of origin – and political careers – depend heavily on the fossil fuel industry, calling his views on protecting the environment and indigenous communities “radicals”. The line of questioning that Haaland had to endure during his two-day confirmation hearing of Republican senators reflected a long-standing battle between proponents of fossil fuels and environmentalists.
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who accepted almost $ 1.7 million from Big Oil, asked Haaland: “Will your administration be guided by a prejudice against fossil fuels or will it be guided by science?” Meanwhile, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah attacked Obama-era protection to turn the Bears Ears – an area important to Native Americans – into a national monument. As head of the Interior, Haaland will conduct a review of Biden’s executive order to present conclusions and recommendations to restore the boundaries of Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which the Trump administration has shrunk by 2 million acres. “The designation of the monument does not make them more beautiful,” said Lee.
During the hearing, Haaland said she will work hard to cross party lines and take into account the concerns of members of Congress – but she also said she would not put aside environmental concerns or Biden’s climate agenda.
“As I learned in this role, there is no doubt that fossil energy plays and will continue to play an important role in America for years to come. I know the importance of oil and gas revenues to finance essential services, ”said Haaland in his opening speech. “But we must also recognize that the energy industry is innovating and our climate challenge must be faced.”
Indigenous communities and environmental activists, who have long supported Biden’s choice, praised Haaland’s confirmation. “She is the most qualified person to lead the Interior in an era of repair and regeneration,” said Nick Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota and CEO of the NDN Collective, an organization dedicated to building indigenous power. “The Indian country has joined it and is ready to roll up its sleeves with it and this administration to see what world we can make for our children and grandchildren.”
Her new role as the first Native American to serve as secretary of the interior will be a major advance for the environment and indigenous communities, as well as a major undertaking, considering what the previous administration did to decimate the department.
The importance of having an indigenous environmentalist as head of the Interior
In 2018, Haaland made history as one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, along with Rep. Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation in Kansas. As a member of Congress, she was vice president of the House’s Natural Resources Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands, as well as being a member of the United States Indigenous Peoples subcommittee. As a member of such committees, she had to hear testimony from community members, activists and lobbyists voicing concerns about the Trump administration’s effort to destroy sacred sites, pollute the environment and drill public land.
“It’s disheartening,” Haaland told Vox last November. “The Trump administration essentially destroyed and destroyed the department and the policies. President Biden’s commitment to fighting climate change and protecting our environment is the most progressive we’ve seen and will fix it. ”
Haaland’s appointment to lead the department is in line with the Biden-Harris campaign plan for tribal nations, a comprehensive outline launched last October that lists government priorities in addressing key issues that plague tribal communities, such as health and education. In addition to overseeing all public lands, the Department of the Interior is also responsible for honoring the federal government’s commitments to tribal nations – a task that the department has historically repeatedly failed to do.
And since no Native American has served in any position as cabinet secretary before in the history of the United States, Haaland brings a whole new approach to his role, with deep knowledge and connection with issues relating to indigenous issues and environmental protection. She understands how the climate crisis disproportionately affects marginalized communities – like when oil pipelines cut indigenous sacred lands, presenting risks of soil and water contamination, or when industrial facilities are installed in historically black neighborhoods.
“The Department of the Interior has historically been a place where the fossil fuel industry and transnational corporations have used public land as a playground to destroy the environment, contribute to climate change and fill the pockets of very few people at the expense of the environment and everyone, ”said Tilsen. “She is not able to repeat this cycle, because she is on the side of people and the environment.”