Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, chairman of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Wednesday that he would vote for New Mexico’s representative Deb Haaland as Home Secretary, paving the way for her likely approval as the first Indian to head a Cabinet agency.
Manchin, a West Virginia moderate, was publicly decided by two days of hearings on the nomination of Haaland by President Joe Biden. Manchin caused a political uproar last week by announcing plans to oppose Biden’s choice of budget director Neera Tanden, a major departure that could jeopardize her nomination in the equally divided Senate.
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In contrast, Manchin said Haaland deserved his vote, despite disagreements over drilling on federal lands and the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“I believe Deb Haaland will be a Secretary of State for every American and will vote to confirm her,” Manchin said in a statement. ‘Although we do not agree on every issue, she reaffirmed her strong commitment to two parties. needs of our country and maintaining our country’s energy independence. ″
Haaland’s Housemates on both sides of the aisle, including Republican Al Young, Don Young, praised Haaland’s dual achievements and “sincere willingness to work together on important issues,” Manchin said.
Manchin also said he was pleased that Haaland had said during hearings this week that Biden’s government was committed to keeping fossil fuels “for years to come, even if we move towards a cleaner future energy through innovation, not elimination. “
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Manchin, a longtime defender of the coal industry, leads a committee that is crucial to Biden’s efforts to address climate change, but has expressed skepticism about some actions advocates say are needed to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming . He stressed the need to create clean energy jobs to replace jobs likely to be lost in the transition to coal, oil and natural gas.
Manchin’s announcement comes as Republicans denounce Haaland, saying her opposition to refraction, Keystone XL and other issues make her unfit to play a role in overseeing energy development in large parts of federal states, mostly in the West, as well as foreign countries. drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
Louis Kennedy Senator John Kennedy, a Republican who is not on the energy panel, called Haaland “a neo-socialist, left-wing Lenin.”
While wanting to learn more about her, Kennedy added: “No righteous person believes we can run the largest economy in all of human history … without oil and gas. And she seems to think we can. And I think she lives in la-la-land. And I do not think the radical approach serves America well. ″
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Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, the senior Republican in the Senate’s energy panel, said a moratorium imposed by Biden on oil and gas leasing on federal lands is taking a sledgehammer in the economies of Western states. Mor The moratorium, which supports Haaland, could cost as many as 33,000 jobs in Wyoming, Barrasso said, with another 62,000 workers in Haaland’s homeland, New Mexico, at risk.
Barrasso and other Republicans also lament that Biden turned down the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, saying thousands of jobs would be lost and a friendly source of oil would remain vacant. Haaland said on Wednesday that she supported Biden’s decision and emphasized that she would follow his agenda at the Department of Home Affairs – not her own.
Manchin said he was pleased that Haaland had made clear its commitment to expanding a program to clean up abandoned coal mines across the country, including West Virginia.
Several Republican senators, including Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, a former Senate energy president, have not announced how they will vote on Haaland’s nomination, though it appears most Republicans will oppose her.
Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., Calls Haaland ‘a hardline ideologue with radical views that do not come into contact with Montana and the West. He cites her opposition to Keystone XL and statements she made before her nomination for a ban on Daines entangled with Haaland during her confirmation hearing on her previous opposition to traps on public lands and her support for continued federal protection for grizzly bears .
He asked Haaland why she has a bill to continue the protection of grizzly bears, “if science tells us that the numbers of the bear are much higher than the recovery targets” set by the Endangered Species Act.
“I imagined that I cared for the bears at the time,” Haaland replied. She later said she “would like to look into the matter with Daines a bit”.
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Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Another former chairman of Energy, told Haaland that he would “abandon everything” for her confirmation and would not only vote yes, but also on the Senate floor for her. would talk.
“I think you have undoubtedly made the case that you will be there for work in the countryside,” Wyden said. People in the West ‘want jobs and protection of the environment. We see it as two sides of the same coin, ”he added.