Daines Urges Senate to Reject Haaland for Interior Secretary

Montana Senator Steve Daines, along with several Senators from other western states’, urged the Senate to reject Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as President Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior.

“Representative Haaland has a very well documented and hostile record toward made in America energy; toward natural resource development; towards wildlife management and sportsmen,” said Daines. “Throughout her tenure as a Congresswoman, Representative Haaland championed the Green New Deal. She advocated for the most extreme positions, including banning all fossil fuels. She co-sponsored legislation to provide federal protections for grizzly bears for ever, without considering the science that's very clear, that supports de-listing that species and returning it back to the states just like we did with Wolves back in 2011.”

Daines said if Ms. Haaland is confirmed it will be the death knell for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“She's been enthusiastic in her calls to stop not just the Keystone pipeline, but all pipelines,” he said.  “She is calling for a ban for all pipelines, and even protested the Dakota Access Pipeline herself. She has stated that trapping shouldn't be allowed on public lands, and as noted by several sportsman groups, Representative Haaland  would not even commit to maintaining current access on our public lands during the confirmation hearing.”

After listing all the reasons why he would not support Ms. Haaland, Daines asked the entire Senate to join him.

“I urge my colleagues, especially those from western states that hold many of these same values, to really think about what Representative Haaland would bring to the Department of Interior as leader of that organization,” he said. “I urge my colleagues to consider the impact this will have and to vote against Representative Haaland's nomination for Secretary of the Interior.”

The Hill stated that ‘Four Republican senators, including Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska), have signaled they could vote with Democrats to confirm Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), President Biden's pick to lead the Interior Department.’