According to a report by the discredited CNN news network, Rep. Ben Ray Luján and other Democrat members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were triggered by the news hitting airwaves that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had snubbed an offer to be Joe Biden’s Interior Secretary in the 78-year-old former vice president’s fictitious presidential cabinet.
The CNN report says that while on a call with Democrat members of Congress and Joe Biden’s chosen chief of staff Ron Klain, Rep. Ben Ray Luján, alleged cousin to Gov. Lujan Grisham, and other Democrats were triggered by the news getting out that the Governor had turned down Biden’s offer to be his Interior secretary.
According to the report:
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a member from New Mexico, spoke up first, according to Grijalva, but was followed by a chorus of members in the CHC about the harm it had done to Lujan Grisham’s reputation and other women who had been interested in positions in Biden’s Cabinet.
“You can’t be cavalier with this stuff. Their reputations are on the line and when something comes up like, ‘We offered her something and she didn’t take it,’ it puts a bad light on her and on other candidates,” Grijalva said.
Grijalva said that members were also frustrated that it had hurt Rep. Deb Haaland, a Democrat from New Mexico, who had expressed an interest in the top job at Interior.
“Most of us interpreted it as a slap in both their faces,” Grijalva said. He added that Klain “shared both the concern and sometimes the anger that members were expressing.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) said that “there had yet to be a single Latina named to the Cabinet, and said the information about Lujan Grisham turning down the post at Interior going public seemed like an attempt to discredit a very qualified woman.” She added, “As someone who read the articles … the way it read was someone was trying to send a message that she had her shot and she walked away.”
Previously, Rep. Luján and other Democrats sent a letter begging Biden to nominate Gov. Lujan Grisham to the Department of Health and Human Services, despite her abysmal leadership during COVID-19, which has cost thousands of lives, with stark economic ramifications due to her lockdown of the state. This has resulted in countless jobs lost and hours-long bread lines forming outside of food stores.
The Democrats’ frustration aimed toward the Biden team appears to be hitting deaf ears, as Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has been reported to be the favorite for the spot, a massive blow to Lujan Grisham.
MLG is qualified.
In a liberal democrat presidential administration it does not require experience or intellect to serve as Secretary of the Interior.
One in the position only has to lock up public lands to any extraction or use of resources and to lock out the public for most recreational uses.
You forget that Interior has been playing fast and loose for decades. Look for example at BLM, which by enabling legislation is to determine the intergenerational sustained yield for oil and gas. Epic fail. As for locking you out of recreation lands, last I looked there only has happened on our State waterways and done by law, signed by the last Governor.
Perhaps MLG knows that the hold Biden Presidency is a farce and he will never be inaugurated.