It’s official

WASHINGTON, D.C – On March 15, the U.S. Senate confirmed Laguna Pueblo Rep. Debra Haaland, D-N.M., as the first Native woman to hold a Cabinet post, making her the Secretary of the Interior by a narrow 51-40 vote.

“The history-making nomination … is a huge step forward, and now it creates a government that more embodies the full richness and diversity of this country,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said immediately following the vote.

Her post requires she supervise federal trust and treaty responsibilities for 574 tribal nations with more than 5.2 million American Indian and Alaska Native people, as well as the nation’s wildlife, more than 480 million surface acres — nearly one-fifth of the land area of the United States, 700 million acres of subsurface minerals, and 2.5 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf.

“Thank you to the U.S. Senate for your confirmation vote today,” Haaland tweeted shortly afterward. “As Secretary of Interior, I look forward to collaborating with all of you. I am ready to serve.”

Even before Haaland had a chance to respond to the vote, Native constituents began dishing up jubilance and petroleum industry stalwarts started sending stern warnings her way.

Calling it “a watershed moment for Indian country, the National Congress of American Indians, congratulated Haaland. “The relationship between tribal nations and the federal government has been fractured for far too long,” NCAI President Fawn Sharp said.

“Having an ally like Secretary Haaland, who is not only deeply qualified but is from our communities, has the potential to transform the government-to-government relationship and will be vital in advancing Native American issues for generations,” Sharp remarked.

Oglala Sioux Tribal President Kevin Killer’s office responded: “Madam Secretary, you have made history by becoming the first Native American to head the Interior. We look forward to working with you, and you have full support from the Oglala Sioux Tribe and President Kevin Killer. They have doubted our ability to lead, and you have proven them wrong.”

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chair Harold Frazier marked the moment with a reflection, saying “Many people do not know that the responsibility of dealing with tribal nations was a duty of the War Department. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was then transferred to the Department of Interior, and we would continue to struggle with poor government policies.

“It is a pivotal moment to have a true Native American in such a high government position,” Frazier said.

Their tribal nations are the largest of nine in South Dakota, whose senators, John Thune and Mike Rounds, both Republicans, voted against Haaland’s confirmation, citing fears over her efficiency in carrying out Biden’s energy policy directives and doubts about her interpretation of tribal governance.

Oglala Sioux Tribal President Kevin Killer specifically asked both senators to support the nomination, according to news service reports.

Congratulating Haaland on behalf of its 600 member companies, which produce, process, and distribute the majority of U.S. gas and oil was the American Petroleum Institute.

“Secretary Haaland’s first priority should be to lift the federal leasing pause, which is creating significant uncertainty and undermining our nation’s energy security, economic growth and environmental progress,” said the institute’s President and CEO Mike Sommers said.

“We have a shared goal for a low-carbon future, but this is the wrong approach and will only lead to more foreign energy imports from countries hostile to American interests,” he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden picked Haaland for the post even before his inauguration to help his Administration carry out a job building carbon reduction plan that he would soon declare in an executive order called “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.”

It calls for finding ways to double renewable energy production by 2030 and temporarily halting new leases of public lands for oil or gas fracking, pending a review of Interior’s current leases.

In confirmation hearings before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Haaland swayed lawmakers in her favor on these concerns, assuring them that she would carry out Biden’s bidding through a policy of “innovation, not elimination.”

Alaskan Republican Congressman Don Young, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, introduced Haaland at the committee hearings, testifying to her willingness to work with him across the aisle on important issues.

The committee voted11-9 to recommend her nomination to the full Senate, based on two days of hearings in February.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., secured her approval date, taking the Senate floor March 11 to say that “230 years after (President George) Washington called his first Cabinet meeting, it is long past time to give a Native American woman a seat at the Cabinet table.”

Manchin, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called for the definitive vote following his committee’s 11-9 recommendation to the Senate, based on two days of hearings in February.

Haaland thanked the committee for its confidence, saying, “I believe we all have a stake in the future of our country, and I believe that every one of us shares a common bond: our love for the outdoors and a desire and obligation to keep our nation livable for future generations.”

Alaska Native constituents were instrumental in securing their Congressional delegation’s key endorsement of Haaland.

“She would make long-overdue history as the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary and we have weighed in with our Alaska senators to encourage their support for her nomination,” about 400 Native women said in an open letter.

“Her confirmation would mean that our children, especially our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters will see someone who looks like them leading alongside the President of the United States, and they will know that no dream is off-limits to them.”

Alaskan Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Don Sullivan both voted in favor of advancing the Senate confirmation, although they have looked askance at Haaland’ s opposition to energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaskan Republican Congressman Don Young, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, introduced Haaland at the committee hearings, testifying to her willingness to work with him on important issues.

Every member of the committee questioned her.  Most asked her two rounds of questions, and some asked three rounds. Then the committee as a whole asked her nearly 300 questions, many with multiple subparts.

The questions challenged her sharply on beliefs, opinions, the President’s policies, and what she will do if confirmed.

“While I may not personally agree with some of Congresswoman Haaland’s past statements and policy positions, as Secretary, she will be carrying out President Biden’s agenda—the agenda that the voters elected President Biden to pursue,” Manchin told the Senate.

Haaland said the Administration recognizes the country’s dependence on fossil fuels will remain for years to come, and a transition to a cleaner energy future must come through “innovation, not elimination.” She also affirmed her commitment to bipartisanship.

“She understands the need to work across the aisle to find the bipartisan solutions needed to address the diverse needs of our country and has demonstrated that she can do so effectively,” Manchin resolved.

He noted her presence at the Cabinet level is crucial for the unprecedented political moment now after a deadly armed domestic assault on Congress Jan. 6 nearly deprived the country of election results.

“President Biden is in perhaps the most difficult position a modern-day President has been in, bringing us back from the brink after Jan. 6,” Manchin said.

“That day changed me, and I feel strongly that with the deep divisions running through our country and the halls of Congress today, we have to have people who have demonstrated they have the temperament and the willingness to reach across the aisle.

“Congresswoman Haaland has demonstrated that she does and will,” he told fellow senators.

“As the President works to bind together a nation split by deep political, racial, social, and economic divisions, he is also trying to assemble a Cabinet that reflects the rich diversity of our nation—one that looks like America,” he said.

Haaland’s nomination was heavily influenced by grassroots Native lobbying.

The non-profit Advance Native Political Leadership noted, “We are proud to have worked in coalition with our friends at IllumiNative, Native Organizers Alliance, Data for Progress, National Congress of American Indians, NDN Collective, Protect the Sacred, and many more Native leaders and organizations across the country for this historic and long overdue appointment.”

Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center noted that “the Department of the Interior has been used as a tool of oppression against the original people of this land.”

Western Native Voice said, “Rep. Haaland will bring about a new day at the Department of the Interior with grace, humility, and expertise, fighting to ensure the voices of tribes and local communities are heard in conversations about our public lands — not just those of oil and gas CEOs.”

 

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net)

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