Deb Haaland becomes first-ever native American U.S. cabinet secretary
The U.S. Senate confirmed Representative Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior, making her the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency and giving her a central role in President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to fight climate change, according to Reuters.
A divided U.S. Senate confirmed the New Mexico Democrat in a narrow vote after she clinched support from Republicans including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Senator Susan Collins.
Haaland will oversee polices guiding use of 500 million acres of federal and tribal land, a fifth of the nation’s surface. A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Haaland would also oversee the U.S. government’s relationship with some 574 federally recognized tribal nations.
Haaland also became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018.
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