Department of Interior Secretary nominee Debra Haaland appeared to have a clear path to confirmation when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced her support for Haaland.
Two Republican senators, however, announced they would provide obstacles to a clear path.
Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) announced they would put a hold on Haaland’s nomination. The hold will force the Senate to conduct 30 hours’ debate after the nomination is put to the floor before a confirmation vote can be held.
In separate announcements, the senators said the holds were related to Haaland’s views on the oil and gas industry, in support of President Joe Biden.
“I will be forcing debate on Rep. Haaland’s nomination to U.S. Department of the Interior,” said Daines, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Daines voted in committee against sending Haaland’s nomination to the full Senate.
“Her record is clear: she opposes pipelines and fossil fuels, ignores science when it comes to wildlife management and wants to ban trapping on public lands,” Daines said. “Haaland’s views will hurt the Montana way of life and kill Montana jobs. We must consider the impact she will have on the West and our entire country.”
Lummis cited a report on the president’s ban on initiating new oil and gas drilling leases in her opposition.
“According to a University of Wyoming analysis, the Biden ban could cost my state nearly $13 billion in tax revenue, which would devastate Wyoming’s investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure,” she said. “Congresswoman Deb Haaland will be a champion of this and even more radical policies, and I am committed to doing anything I can to fight the Biden and Haaland job-killing agenda. For Wyoming’s energy workers and producers who will bear the loss of jobs, and for our medical professionals and children who will bear the loss of revenue, I’m putting a hold on Deb Haaland’s nomination to serve as Secretary of the Interior.”
The previous week, Collins announced her support for Haaland.
“After examining Rep. Deb Haaland’s qualifications, reviewing her hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and meeting with her personally, I will vote to confirm her to be the Secretary of the Department of the Interior,” Collins said. “While we certainly have different views on some issues, her role in helping to shepherd the Great American Outdoors Act through the House will be beneficial to the department’s implementation of this landmark conservation law, which I cosponsored. I also appreciate Rep. Haaland’s willingness to support issues important to the state of Maine, such as Acadia National Park, as well as her deep knowledge of tribal issues, which has earned her the support of tribes across the country, including those in Maine.
“Rep. Haaland promised to be bipartisan in her new role at the Department of the Interior,” Collins said, “and I look forward to working with her.”
Coupled with expected votes from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the lone Republican who voted in committee by an 11-9 count to send Haaland’s nomination to the floor, and Senate Energy and National Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Haaland is expected to be confirmed after the 30 hours’ debate are dispensed.
