The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the nomination of Steve Pearce, a former member of Congress from New Mexico, to head the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Pearce, a Republican, served multiple terms representing New Mexico’s second congressional district, which includes Carlsbad and Eddy County where the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is located.
Pearce was nominated by President Donald Trump in January to lead BLM, which oversees federally-owned public land. But Pearce faces opposition from Sen. Martin Heinrich, a fellow New Mexican who is the top Democrat on the panel.
“I have known Congressman Pearce a long time,” Heinrich said in a statement. “And while I appreciate his testimony before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week, I cannot in good faith vote to advance his nomination to serve as our Bureau of Land Management director.”
During his time in the House of Representatives, Pearce pushed to sell off public lands and opposed a national monument designation in New Mexico, Heinrich said.
The committee is expected to vote on Pearce and other White House nominees during a 9:30 a.m. business meeting on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the committee is also expected to vote on the nomination of Kyle Haustveit, of North Dakota to be under secretary of energy. If confirmed, he would replace prior Trump appointee, Wells Griffith, who reportedly was forced to resign from the Department of Energy last fall.