Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo, has been a strong critic of the development of fossil fuels, a stance that has made it one of Biden’s most controversial choices. And she may also face tough questions from Democratic chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Joe Manchin, who is the most pro-fossil-fuel Democrat and whose opposition may have rejected another Biden nominee, Neera Tanden.
Haaland has been a rising star among progressives since his election to Congress in 2018. She grew up in poverty and her official disclosures show that she is still paying off the loans for the University of New Mexico law degree she won in 2006. She worked on the campaign of former President Barack Obama in the state in 2012 and later chaired the Party State Democrat, where she was credited for fixing her finances and rebuilding her after electoral losses.
Leading the Republican Party’s opposition to his nomination are the Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, white legislators from states with large populations of American Indians. Lummis criticized Haaland’s “extreme views”, while Daines and Barrasso called it “radical” – and Daines suggested that he try to block his appointment altogether.
The three cited her opposition to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, projects over which she would have little influence if she became secretary of the interior. (Biden has already blocked the Keystone XL pipeline.) And they protested Biden’s initial executive action that interrupted new leases for drilling for oil and gas on federal land and waters, which contribute about 20% of U.S. production.
But several Native Americans told POLITICO that the senators’ sharp criticism of Haaland, before she had a chance to address her concerns, reminds them of the stereotype and indifference that tribes have long experienced in negotiations with the U.S. government.
Montana Democratic MP Tyson Running Wolf, a member of Blackfeet Nation, called the Republican opposition a “political maneuver” familiar to Native Americans who entered politics, where there is a “preconceived notion of others that you are 25-30 percent more dumb. ”
“It’s wrong that they didn’t give her the chance,” said Running Wolf. “Let her bring some of those local Native American values that she grew up with and established in her home, and bring them in and surprise people. And then let your work be evaluated. “
Morigeau and Running Wolf signed a letter from the Montana American Indian Caucus urging Daines and deputy Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) To reconsider their opposition to the Haaland nomination.
Several tribal members said young people in their communities considered Haaland and his colleague Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Who made history in 2018 as the first American Indian women elected to Congress, as heroes they helped give to groups indigenous peoples a seat at the table in government decisions.
And they said that reflective GOP opposition is impossible to separate from the actions of the federal government over many generations that marginalized and isolated tribal communities.
Joye Braun, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe in South Dakota who participated in demonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline, said she thought Daines, Barrasso and Lummis were mainly opposing Haaland in an attempt to defend the oil, gas and coal industries in your states. But she also said she felt an uglier feeling behind her comments.
“I am not surprised that they are attacking her,” Braune said by email.
In response to criticism from the tribes, Daines spokeswoman Katie Schoettler said that her opposition to her nomination had nothing to do with her indigenous background and came after meeting with her.
“Senator Daines is proud to have a strong relationship with the Montana Tribes and will continue to work on issues of importance to the indigenous country,” she said by email. “These are the congresswoman’s radical views that are completely out of step with Montana and the nation. The congresswoman is considered one of the ten most liberal members of Congress. Their anti-energy and job-killing views threaten Montana jobs, public access to public land, outdoor recreation and our energy independence.
An adviser to Lummis said: “Senator Lummis is opposed to Rep. Haaland for one reason and only one reason: his radical statements and positions on land and energy issues”, while Barrasso’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Another Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, indicated in a statement that Haaland would also struggle to get his support. Other Republican lawmakers on the committee declined to comment on Haaland’s nomination.
“We are concerned about Rep. Haaland’s track record in energy development,” said Hoeven. “This includes opposition to important energy infrastructure such as pipelines, as well as its support for policies like the Green New Deal, which raises prices for consumers while increasing our dependence on foreign energy sources. We intend to raise these concerns with her during her confirmation hearing and, ultimately, we need her strong commitment to ensuring that taxpayers can benefit from our abundant energy reserves on our federal lands. “
After a weeks delay in scheduling the hearing for Haaland, the committee set a date for February 23 to consider its choice. Hundreds of groups, including tribal representatives and advocates of environmental justice, he asked Senate leaders for a “quick confirmation” of Haaland in a letter.
Not all Republicans opposed Haaland’s nomination. Congressman Don Young of Alaska and Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a state with a significant indigenous population, expressed support for it in comments for an article in the POLITICO Magazine in November.
But senators, not members of the House, have the power to delay their nomination. And Native American groups said the vehemence of the senator’s complaints against Halaand, a current member of the House and the daughter of a veteran of the Navy, rings in his ears as the kind of prejudice they have experienced for decades in American politics.
Other critics said Senate Republicans are making Scapegoat a scapegoat in a proxy fight against Biden’s initial executive orders that revoke a necessary license for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and prioritize clean energy projects. Haaland, the former deputy chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee, supported bills that would have used federal land to expand electrical transmission networks that could connect wind and solar farms to broader markets.
Barrasso, Daines and Lummis received $ 1.8 million in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry in the last election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors campaign funding.
Seeing a nominee to lead the Interior who has a different track record from previous agency bosses and opposes the priorities of the oil and gas industry may be unleashing the distress of Republicans, said Julia Bernal, director of the Pueblo Action Alliance and member of Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico. There were Hispanic men and white women who served as secretaries, but Haaland is an innovative choice as a Native American woman.
Haaland “will change a worldview about how we will manage water, land and natural resources in the future,” said Bernal. “Moving is disconcerting for some people. It is a paradigm shift. The way we have misused resources and poor land management has resulted in a climate crisis. Seeing a change in who holds that power, if it threatens the interests of oil and gas, it definitely reveals what’s wrong with things. ”
Haaland supporters say the senators’ focus on their earlier support for renewable energy and criticism of oil and gas projects ignores what their leadership in the Interior would mean for a country that for much of its history has made the killing and exile of natives Americans an official government policy.
“Senators are probably listening to their benefactors too much and are probably afraid of Deb Haaland,” Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), President of the Natural Resources Chamber, told POLITICO. “The interior was created in various ways to take care of the problem of the Indians – either by taking over land, or by almost eliminating the people themselves, culture or forced assimilation. [It’s] close the circle and you will have an indigenous man running the department. I think that, as a country, we should see that moment as a moment of redemption. “