The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved three nominees Wednesday who are poised to play key roles in the Trump administration’s management of public lands, growing energy demand and rising electricity bills.
The panel greenlit former Republican Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management. Confirmation would put Pearce, a former proponent of large-scale land sales and monument rollbacks, in charge of such matters.
Pearce told senators during his confirmation hearing last week that he would not pursue those goals, but his assurances were not enough to earn the support of any of the committee’s Democrats. His nomination advanced on an 11-9 party-line vote.
“Commitments to follow the law by previous Trump administration nominees have proven unreliable at times, and while Congressman Pearce has said that his past actions opposing national monument designations and calling for public land selloffs are in his rearview mirror, they remain very much in the memory of every New Mexican who faced his opposition to protecting the lands that they cherish,” said Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
