Haaland’s supporters say she’s facing a level of criticism above and beyond the normal fiery Washington political rhetoric.
Republican senators opposed to Rep. Deb Haaland’s nomination to be President Joe Biden’s leader of the Interior Department are centering their resistance on what they call the New Mexico Democrat’s „extreme views“ on fossil fuels and use of federal lands. But supporters of Haaland, who would be the nation’s first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet, say they see a familiar pattern in the Republicans‘ rhetoric and their unusual move to voice their opposition even before her nomination hearing was scheduled. They say she’s facing a level of criticism above and beyond the normal fiery Washington political rhetoric. “Being a minority person and being a person of color, it makes you wonder if she would get this treatment if she wasn’t a person of color, if she wasn’t Indian and if she wasn’t a woman,” said Montana state Sen. Shane Morigeau, a Democrat and a member of the Salish and Kootenai tribes, in an interview. “She became an easy target because we haven’t gotten to this place in our country where we give — especially women and people of color — a fair shot.” Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, has been a sharp critic of fossil fuel development, a stance that has made her nomination among the more contentious of Biden’s picks. And she may also face tough questioning from the Democratic chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Joe Manchin, who is the most pro-fossil fuel Democrat and whose opposition may have scuttled another Biden nominee, Neera Tanden. Haaland has been a rising star among progressives since her election to Congress in 2018. She grew up in poverty and her official disclosures show she is still paying off the loans from the University of New Mexico law degree she earned in 2006. She worked on former President Barack Obama’s campaign in the state in 2012 and later chaired the state’s Democratic Party, where she was credited with fixing its finances and rebuilding it after electoral losses. Leading the GOP opposition to her appointment are Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, white lawmakers from states with sizable American Indian populations. Lummis blasted Haaland’s “extreme views,” while Daines and Barrasso called her “radical“ — and Daines suggested he would attempt to block her nomination altogether. The three have cited her opposition to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, projects that she would have little influence over if she becomes Interior secretary. (Biden has already blocked the Keystone XL pipeline.) And they’ve railed against early executive action from Biden that paused new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters, which contribute about 20 percent of U.S. production. But multiple Native Americans told POLITICO that the senators’ sharp critiques of Haaland, before she’s had a chance to address their concerns, reminds them of the stereotyping and dismissiveness that tribes have long experienced in dealings with the U.S. government. Democratic Montana Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, called the Republican opposition a “political ploy” familiar to Native Americans who have entered politics, where there exists a “preconceived notion from others that you’re 25-30 percent dumber.
