NM Dems release frantic defense of Deb Haaland after confirmation hearing trainwreck

Over the past two days, Deb Haaland has been questioned in front of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the confirmation process for Department of the Interior secretary. 

However, during the hearings, she has had trouble with forming coherent sentences or giving direct answers, constantly repeating vague terms like “I understand” or “I appreciate what you are saying” without formulating tangible answers to give any information that could help senators understand her qualifications.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) plainly asked Haaland, “Did you or do you now support the Biden action of shutting down the Keystone Pipeline his first day in office?” She refused to answer the question, responding, “I have to respect it, uh, Senator. He is the president of the United States and I realize that, um, these are some of the things that he talked about when he was running for office.” Not until Sen. Risch had to press three more times did he get a vaguely discernible answer from Haaland where she finally said, “I will tend to support President Biden’s positions. I assume you could take my answer as a yes.” 

During one line of questioning by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Haaland was asked why she made the statement that she would vote to legalize marijuana to account for lost jobs in the oil and gas industry due to extreme government regulation. She claimed her argument was merely one about “diversify[ing] our funding streams.” 

Barrasso pressed her, “Is selling marijuana among what the Biden administration calls ‘better choices… to give jobs to displaced oil and gas workers?” Haaland said she didn’t know Biden’s position on the legalization of weed. Barrasso clapped back, “Well, we know what your stance is on replacing the revenue from the energy jobs… And your preference is to turn to drugs is what you’ve recommended to the voters.” 

During another exchange, Haaland had difficulty answering basic questions about oil and gas pipelines on federal lands from Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), ultimately admitting she didn’t know the answer to the question.

After Haaland’s disastrous performance, the Democrat Party of New Mexico (DPNM) released a panicky statement, trying to bolster Haaland as “qualified” (of course) because she is a Native American woman. However, despite Haaland’s ancestry, she has nothing of achievement in the field of land or resource management that she can credit as her own other than taking extreme positions that will inevitably bankrupt New Mexico and the United States.

Here is what the Democrat Party of New Mexico released: 

“Representative Haaland made it unequivocally clear today that her knowledge, passion, and experience make her the right person to take on the responsibilities of Secretary of the Interior,” said DPNM Chair Marg Elliston. “As a fierce advocate for New Mexico, Representative Haaland has shown that she can work across the aisle to enact the sort of forward-thinking policies that we need in our federal government. As this confirmation process begins, it’s clear that she will continue to make New Mexicans proud as a voice for all those who cherish and value our nation’s natural resources.” 

Haaland is by no means a “bipartisan” member of Congress, voting 95% of the time with radical socialist “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over 95% of the time. 

After the shameful performance in front of the committee, Western States Director Larry Behrens of the pro-energy group “Power the Future” released the following statement:

“It’s pathetic that Senators need to ask Deb Haaland the same question four times before they get a straight answer from her. In fact, the number of answers Deb Haaland doesn’t have is stunning. 

Deb Haaland has a long record of radical statements and actions, but for the last two days she would have us believe she doesn’t have a position on critical issues facing New Mexico and the rest of the nation. Deb Haaland is pretending to be someone else during these hearings and it’s clear some of the Senators aren’t convinced.”

Haaland’s nomination hangs by a thread, with the New York Times reporting that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) may derail her nomination due to her anti-energy extremism. If this happens, it would be a massive blow to DPNM and Joe Biden, after Biden’s other cabinet pick for the Office of Personnel Management, Neera Tanden, will likely get the boot from the Senate after Manchin rejected her.