
U.S. Senate Republicans may use next weekâs Interior confirmation hearing for Rep. Debra Haaland to air their grievances about the Biden administrationâs energy policies, running the risk of alienating Native Americans in Western states.
GOP Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Steve Daines of Montana sit on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will hold the Tuesday hearing, and both have already raised objections that Haaland holds âradicalâ views. Daines vowed to block her progress in the Senate unless she addresses several issues that concern him.
If confirmed, Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, would be the first Native American person to hold a Cabinet position, a significant symbolic step for the federal department charged with overseeing most federal-tribal relations. She is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna.
But her confirmation already is running behindâthe timing of the hearing means Haaland likely wonât get a vote on the floor of the Senate until sometime in mid-March at the earliest. That timeline would make Haalandâs start date the latest in modern history for a presidentâs first Interior secretary.

Because of the historic nature of Haalandâs nomination, the GOP criticism of her also has already irked representatives of Native American people, especially coming from senators like Daines whose states have significant Native American populations.Â
At 6.3%, Montana has the fifth-highest state share of its population who identify as only American Indian or Alaska Native, according to census data.
Tom Rodgers, a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana and acting president of the Global Indigenous Council, acknowledged that Daines disagrees with Haaland on oil and gas policy, but said the senator should have at least given Haaland the courtesy of being heard at a public hearing before voicing such strong opposition.
âI donât think that the senator wants to go where heâs going,â Rodgers said in an interview. âThis is a woman who has achieved an incredible record to date. She deserves respect⊠Sheâs entitled to be heard, and sheâs entitled to be heard before such harsh judgments are made. And given the significant Native American population Sen. Daines represents in Montana, he knows that.â
Aides to Daines did not respond to a message seeking comment.Â
Global warming, energy goals
Haaland will likely field questions on the administrationâs energy goals, its plans to address global warming and her relationship with Native American communities.Â
President Joe Bidenâs early moves on energy and environmental policy ââincluding scrapping the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, freezing new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands and pledging to protect 30% of U.S. land and water by 2030âhave made Haaland a target for Republican members who disagree with the administrationâs actions.
Bret Hartl, the head of government affairs at the liberal environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, predicted that Republicans will make Haalandâs hearing âa surrogate fightâ in a broader disagreement over environmental policy, including the administrationâs oil and gas leasing pause, pipeline withdrawal and aggressive conservation goals.
âTheyâre trying to blame her for a policy they donât agree with,â Hartl said. âNo one will raise a fact that she is not well-qualified and an excellent choice.âÂ
Haalandâs allies praise her familiarity with many of the issues Interior handles, including tribal relations, and conservation as the head of the House subcommittee overseeing public lands.
âSheâs perfectly aligned to have a good working coalition,â said Taylor Patterson, the executive director of Native Voters Alliance Nevada.
As a House member, Haaland was an original co-sponsor of the climate change legislation known as the Green New Deal and has said sheâll work to âkeep fossil fuels in the ground.â
With that background and Bidenâs actions, Republican senators with pro-fossil fuel records have weighed in early.
Barrasso, the top Republican on Senate Energy, said he wouldnât support Haalandâs nomination unless she rejected âpolicies that will force energy workers into the unemployment line.â
âRepresentative Haalandâs radical views are squarely at odds with the responsible management of our nationâs energy resources,â he said through a spokesman. âHer vocal opposition to oil and gas production on federal lands will only encourage President Biden along the illegal and reckless path that he has begun.â
Daines said after a private meeting with Haaland earlier this month he would block her confirmation unless she addressed several concerns he had, potentially stretching out the process and forcing procedural votes in advance of the final confirmation vote. Sheâs still likely to prevail, since her confirmation needs only a simple majority in a Senate split 50-50 with tie-breaking votes cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.
âI’m deeply concerned with the Congresswoman’s support on several radical issues that will hurt Montana, our way of life, our jobs and rural America, including her support for the Green New Deal and President Biden’s oil and gas moratorium, as well as her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline,â Daines said in a Feb. 5 statement.
Native Americans have pushed back.
The Montana Legislatureâs American Indian Caucus wrote Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, also a Republican, to say their opposition was âdeeply offensive.â
Rosendale joined a letter with other House Republicans that called Haaland âa direct threat to working men and women and a rejection of responsible development of Americaâs natural resources.â
The Montana-based Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council produced an ad that said the only âradicalâ thing about Haalandâs nomination is that it took nearly 250 years to happen.
While Native American representation at Interior is important, Rodgers, Patterson and others said they were confident in Haalandâs qualifications without regard to her racial background.
Slow pace on confirmations
While Haalandâs confirmation vote has lagged, other Biden nominees have been moving slowly, too, in part due to the Senateâs impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The Senate still has not confirmed Energy Secretary-designate Jennifer Granholm, though Senate Energy questioned her Jan. 27.Â
The Senate didnât confirm Ryan Zinke, Trumpâs first Interior secretary, until March 1, 2017. But Senate confirmations of Interior secretaries have typically been routine and speedy. Other than Trump, every president since Woodrow Wilson had his choice for Interior secretary confirmed within two weeks of inauguration.
Even Zinke was at least further along in the process than Haaland is now at an equivalent time in Trumpâs term. The Senate Energy Committee held confirmation hearings for the then-House member from Montana on Jan. 17, 2017âthree days before Trumpâs inauguration.
Former officials and activists told States Newsroom that the delay is not ideal, but is still brief enough to have little real-world effect.
Native American communities in Nevada are focused on getting resources for COVID-19 relief, and havenât really noticed problems with Interior or its agencies, Patterson said.
Capable career staff are keeping things running as they prepare for a secretaryâs arrival, Hartl said.
Still, some important work, including picking top deputies and other key decision-makers, canât happen until Haaland takes office.
âItâs important to have top leadership in place as soon as possible so that the presidentâs Cabinet can work together implementing the new administrationâs agenda,â said Bob Abbey, a former director of the Bureau of Land Management under President Barack Obama.
An Interior Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Meanwhile, in Congress, Colorado Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse, who joined the House the same year as Haaland, will take over her chairmanship of the House Natural Resources subcommittee that oversees public lands and national parks.