Over the weekend, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) announced that he was “deeply concerned” with Joe Biden’s cabinet nominee for the Department of the Interior, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM). He vowed to block Haaland’s nomination if his needs were not addressed.
Daines’ statement following his conversation with Haaland reads as follows:
“After our conversation, I’m deeply concerned with the Congresswoman’s support on several radical issues that will hurt Montana, our way of life, our jobs and rural America, including her support for the Green New Deal and President Biden’s oil and gas moratorium, as well as her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline. I am also concerned by the responses I received about the role of the Department and lack of appreciation for issues that impact Montana such as wildlife management and hunting and sportsman access. I’m not convinced the Congresswoman can divorce her radical views and represent what’s best for Montana and all stakeholders in the West. Unless my concerns are addressed, I will block her confirmation.”
Sen. Daines’ objection to Haaland’s radical policies, as reported on for years in New Mexico, will not necessarily doom the New Mexico congresswoman’s chances of nomination, but it will complicate them, which according to the Daily Montanan, “Instead of moving Haaland’s nomination hearing, which still has yet to be scheduled as of Monday afternoon, the Senate would have to forward her through the cloture process, a more cumbersome path.”
Daines’ concerns come after shouts against Haaland from New Mexico, the state she claims to represent, and around the nation opposing her nomination. Pro-energy group Power the Future wrote in a statement, “It’s no surprise to the Senator and others raise serious concerns about the extreme positions of Congresswoman Haaland. Leaders in her home state of New Mexico may turn a blind eye to her radical ideas, but those who fight for our nation’s energy workers know there is too much at stake for our nation. There is no doubt Deb Haaland would be the most radical Interior Secretary in the history of our country”
Aside from her radical views on just about every issue imaginable, she does not have the qualifications to lead the Department of the Interior (a factor Biden has not cared much about through his other nominees, such as Pete Buttigieg for Department of Transportation).
The Piñon Post reported back in November:
But in reality, Haaland has no qualifications to speak of. Not a single piece of legislation she has sponsored in her short two-year tenure in the House has become law, and she has a record of straight-up lying to the American people. Not to mention the fact that despite her multiple attempts at passing the bar to become a lawyer, she has failed.
During a candidate debate in October, Haaland misled on multiple issues. She claimed she worked in “a bipartisan way” while in Congress, despite voting with socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 95% of the time, she called a leftist Black Lives Matter/Antifa mob committing arson and vandalism in Lafayette Square near the White House “peaceful,” she claimed she did not support Antifa, despite calling them “peaceful protestors,” saying she has never “missed a vote,” despite missing several, and falsely claiming President Trump called COVID-19 a “Democrat hoax,” which liberal fact-checkers have even admitted is incorrect.
Aside from her failed record in Congress and desperate attempts to woo members of the socialist AOC “squad,” she has proven no qualifications for the job she currently holds, much less that of a cabinet position in a presidential administration.
The move by western Sen. Daines to stymie Haaland’s confirmation gives even more credibility to the assertion that Haaland is not qualified for the role and holds extraordinarily fringe political views.
I hear she’s got a couple of DUIs too. Guess that’s forgivable if you’ve got connections.