WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Senate on Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, making her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department and the first to lead the federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation\u2019s tribes for nearly two centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haaland was confirmed by a 51-40 vote, the narrowest margin yet for a Cabinet nomination by President Joe Biden. Four Republicans voted yes: Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats and tribal groups hailed Haaland\u2019s confirmation as historic, saying her selection means that Indigenous people \u2014 who lived in North America before the United States was created \u2014 will for the first time see a Native American lead the powerful department where decisions on relations with the nearly 600 federally recognized tribes are made. Interior also oversees a host of other issues, including energy development on public lands and waters, national parks and endangered species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRep. Haaland\u2019s confirmation represents a gigantic step forward in creating a government that represents the full richness and diversity of this country,\u2019’ said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNative Americans for far too long have been neglected at the Cabinet level and in so many other places,\u2019’ Schumer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation resident of New Mexico, thanked hundreds of supporters at a virtual party hosted by Native American organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her confirmation shows that tribal members are \u201cvisible\u201d and being taken seriously, Haaland said after the vote. \u201cAnd no, it should not have taken more than 200 years for a Native person to take the helm at Interior, or even be a Cabinet secretary for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haaland said she was \u201cready to roll up my sleeves\u201d so Interior can play its part in Biden\u2019s plan to \u201cbuild back better\u201d and \u201cresponsibly manage our natural resources to protect them for future generations.\u2019’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haaland\u2019s nomination has been closely watched by tribal communities across the country, with some virtual parties drawing hundreds of people to watch her two-day confirmation hearing last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supporters projected a photo of Haaland, a two-term congresswoman who represents greater Albuquerque, on the side of the Interior building in downtown Washington with text that read \u201cOur Ancestors\u2019 Dreams Come True.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many Native Americans see Haaland, 60, as someone who will elevate their voices and protect the environment and tribes\u2019 rights. Her selection breaks a two-century pattern of non-Native officials, mostly male, serving as the top federal official over American Indian affairs. The federal government often worked to dispossess tribes of their land and, until recently, to assimilate them into white culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is long past time that an American Indian serve as the secretary of the Interior,\u201d said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, the nation\u2019s oldest and largest tribal organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe nation needs her leadership and vision to help lead our response to climate change, to steward our lands and cultural resources and to ensure that across the federal government, the United States lives up to its trust and treaty obligations to tribal nations and our citizens,\u2019’ Sharp said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, called Haaland\u2019s confirmation \u201can unprecedented and monumental day for all first people of this country. Words cannot express how overjoyed and proud we are to see one of our own confirmed to serve in this high-level position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haaland\u2019s confirmation \u201csets us on a better path to righting the wrongs of the past with the federal government and inspires hope in our people, especially our young people,\u2019’ Nez added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everyone was celebrating. Some Republican senators have criticized Haaland\u2019s views on oil drilling and other energy development as \u201cradical\u201d and extreme, citing her opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and her support for the Green New Deal, a sweeping, if mostly aspirational, policy to address climate change and income inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Haaland\u2019s \u201cextreme views\u201d and support of \u201ccatastrophic legislation\u201d such as the Green New Deal would make her confirmation as interior secretary disastrous, harming America\u2019s energy supply and economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmerican jobs are being sacrificed in the name of the Biden agenda, and Rep. Haaland couldn\u2019t defend it,\u2019’ Barrasso said last week, referring to decisions by Biden to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and impose a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barrasso also faulted Haaland\u2019s support for continued protection for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region of the Rocky Mountains, despite a recommendation by the Fish and Wildlife Service that about 700 bears in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho no longer need protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRep. Haaland has chosen to ignore the science and the scientists of the very department that she is now nominated to lead,\u2019’ Barrasso said, calling on Interior to remove protections for the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barrasso and several other Western senators missed the vote, citing a severe winter storm that dumped 3 feet of snow on parts of Colorado and Wyoming, causing multiple flight cancellations. Fellow Wyoming Republican Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado also missed the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she appreciates Haaland\u2019s leadership in the House on a range of issues, adding that Haaland\u2019s status as a Native American \u201cwill give us an extra advantage on (tribal) issues that are so important to Indian Country overall.\u2019’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Murkowski said she had \u201csome real misgivings\u201d about Haaland because of her views on oil drilling and other energy issues, but said Native Alaskans, an important constituency in her rural state, had urged her to back Haaland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQuite honestly, we need (Haaland) to be a success,\u201d Murkowski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said he was disappointed at the rhetoric used by Barrasso and other Republicans. Heinrich, who lives in Haaland\u2019s district, called her confirmation historic and said she \u201calways has an open door and an open mind\u201d to a range of views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fellow New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, who presided over the Senate during the vote on Haaland\u2019s nomination, said she brings \u201ca unique and long-overdue perspective\u201d to the Interior Department\u2019s mission to protect natural resources and honor responsibilities to tribes and other native people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have no doubt that Secretary Haaland will leave an indelible mark on the Department of Interior, and I look forward to continuing to work with her to make a difference for the people of New Mexico,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Matthew Brown in Billings, Mont., contributed to this story.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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