Deb Haaland becomes the first Native person ever in the history of the United States to be appointed to a cabinet position. https://t.co/KiqfPNbizi
— Rebecca Nagle (@rebeccanagle) December 17, 2020
… The Interior Department is tasked with protecting the nation’s natural resources and honoring the government’s federal trust responsibilities. It manages America’s vast public lands and coastal waters while overseeing prominent departments such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. The agency employs 70,000 people.
Haaland’s nomination has been backed by many Indigenous leaders, advocates and allies for weeks.
More than 130 tribal leaders collaborated to write letters to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, citing Haaland’s bipartisan leadership. Native organizations including NDN Collective and IllumiNative created online campaigns, and celebrities like Mark Ruffalo have offered support via social media…
Many of Haaland’s colleagues in Congress also had rallied behind her. In mid-November, more than 50 House Democrats penned a letter to the Biden transition team backing her for the post.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined in, saying Haaland “knows the territory,” and if Biden nominated her, “he will have made an excellent choice.”…
I’ve seen Very Sensible People muttering about ‘the Democrats’ thin margin’ in the House, but for some reason, it always seems to be a woman or a Black man who’s expected to turn down a promotion for ‘the good of the party’, so my take is: Okay, so now we bust humps to put another good Democrat in Rep. Haaland’s vacated seat.
Thursday Evening Open Thread: Announcing Secretary of the Interior Deb HaalandPost + Comments (84)