Deb Haaland

Debra Anne Haaland (born December 2, 1960) is an American politician. Haaland has been the 54th and current United States Secretary of the Interior since March 2021. She was the U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from January 3, 2019 until March 16, 2021.

Deb Haaland
Secretary Deb Haaland, official headshot.jpg
54th United States Secretary of the Interior
Assumed office
March 16, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
DeputyTommy Beaudreau
Preceded byDavid Bernhardt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico's 1st district
In office
January 3, 2019 – March 16, 2021
Preceded byMichelle Lujan Grisham
Succeeded byMelanie Stansbury
Chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party
In office
April 25, 2015 – April 29, 2017
Preceded bySam Bregman
Succeeded byRichard Ellenberg
Personal details
Born
Debra Anne Haaland

(1960-12-02) December 2, 1960 (age 63)
Winslow, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Skip Sayre (m. 2021)
Children1
EducationUniversity of New Mexico (BA, JD)
WebsiteHouse website

She is a former Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. She is one of the first two Native American women to be elected to Congress, alongside Sharice Davids, both in 2018.[1]

On December 17, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Haaland to serve as United States Secretary of the Interior in his cabinet.[2] She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 15, 2021 with a 51 to 40 vote.[3][4] She is the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.[a][5][6][7]

Deb Haaland Media

Notes

  1. Charles Curtis, who served as Vice President between 1929 and 1933, was the first ever Native American to serve in a United States Cabinet, but never served as a Cabinet secretary.[5]

References

  1. The U.S. Is Getting Its First Native American Congresswoman as Deb Haaland won and will assume office in January 2019, Fortune, McKenna Moore, 7 June 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  2. Eilperin, Juliet; Grandoni, Dino. "Biden picks Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to be first Native American interior secretary" (in en-US). Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286 . https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/17/deb-haaland-interior-secretary-biden/. Retrieved 2020-12-17. 
  3. King, Ledyard. "Deb Haaland makes history as first Native American Cabinet member after Senate confirmation". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  4. Higgins, Tucker (2021-03-15). "Deb Haaland confirmed as first Native American Cabinet secretary". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Dlouhy, Jennifer A.; Epstein, Jennifer (December 17, 2020). "Biden Picks Deb Haaland to Be First Native American Secretary of Interior" (in en). Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-17/biden-taps-haaland-to-be-first-native-american-head-of-interior. Retrieved December 17, 2020. 
  6. Rott, Nathan (December 17, 2020). "In Historic Move, Biden To Pick Native American Rep. Haaland As Interior Secretary". NPR. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  7. Ortiz, Erik (December 18, 2020). ""They feel hope": Why Rep. Haaland, nominated as first Native American interior secretary, is meaningful". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-12-19.