19 December,2020 08:20 AM IST | Washington | Agencies
Deb Haaland's pick could recast the department's often troubled ties with indigenous tribes. PIC/AFP
American President-elect Joe Biden has chosen congress woman Deb Haaland to serve as the first Native American interior secretary, US media reported on Thursday, in a move that could recast the department's often troubled ties with indigenous tribes.
Haaland is a first-term Democrat from New Mexico in the US Congress and a member of the Laguna Pueblo people. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first Native American to lead a cabinet-level department.
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The choice fits with Biden's much-publicised pledge to form the most diverse White House cabinet in history. The Interior Department is a vast agency of over 70,000 employees overseeing the country's natural resources, including national parks, and oil and gas drilling sites, as well as tribal lands - home to 578 federally recognised tribes.
In Congress, the 60-year-old Haaland has prioritised the improvement of services to tribal communities, especially assistance during the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately hurt Native American families.
"It would be an honour to move the Biden-Harris climate agenda forward, help repair the government-to-government relationship with tribes that the Trump Administration has ruined, and serve as the first Native American cabinet secretary in our nation's history," Haaland said in a statement published by The New York Times.
Biden's transition team did not publicly confirm the pick. But several of Haaland's congressional colleagues offered congratulations on what would be a historic nomination.
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