The Senate confirmed Rep. Deb Haaland as President Biden’s interior secretary Monday, in a vote that for the first time will make a Native American a White House cabinet secretary. The Senate voted to confirm Ms. Haaland on a 51-40 vote, largely along party lines. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke ranks to cast votes in favor of the nomination.
Ms. Murkowski had previously expressed reservations about Ms. Haaland, but said she supported her because of the historic opportunity to have a Native American cabinet secretary. Ms. Collins had previously cited Ms. Haaland’s commitment to conservation funding and knowledge of tribal issues.
“This confirmation is a defining moment for Indigenous peoples not only in the United States but around the world,” said tribal leader Wilfred Herrera Jr., chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors in New Mexico. “Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of our lands, waters, skies, and of all living beings.”
Opponents have said Ms. Haaland’s history of environmental activism—she has called fracking “a danger to the air we breathe and water we drink”—is a poor fit for a cabinet secretary who oversees drilling on vast tracts of public lands.
“Representative Haaland has a hostile record toward made-in-America energy, natural resource development, and wildlife and land management,” Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) said in a statement after the vote. “I have serious concerns about how Rep. Haaland will use this position in ways that negatively impact the Montana way of life.”