By Jarrett Renshaw and Valerie Volcovici
WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico has emerged as President-elect Joe Biden’s leading choice to head the Interior Department, according to three sources familiar with the proceedings, a selection that would make her the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency.
The position would give her authority over a department that employs more than 70,000 people across the United States and oversees more than 20% of federal land, including national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite.
She has told Reuters she would seek to usher in an expansion of renewable energy production on federal land to contribute to the fight against climate change, and undo President Donald Trump’s focus on bolstering fossil fuels output.
Two of the sources said that Biden’s team is close to finalizing the decision on Haaland, but are weighing concerns about the loss of a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrats are hanging on to a slim majority. The third source said the decision was made and that an announcement was imminent.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Howard Goller)
