The U.S. Senate has given its final sign-off on President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the country’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Senators voted along party lines Monday, 46-43, to confirm Steve Pearce as head of the BLM. All 46 yay votes were from Republicans, with Democrats and two independents comprising the nay votes.
Pearce is a former Republican congressman from New Mexico. His nomination has sparked fierce public debate, drawing support from ranching and energy groups and opposition from conservationists.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis [R-Wyoming] is one of the lawmakers who voted in favor of Pearce. She said the BLM oversees roughly one-third of Wyoming’s land.
“Steve brings the experience and vision to honor that responsibility and will serve as an outstanding guardian of our lands,” Lummis said in a press release.
The BLM manages about 245 million acres of surface land and 700 acres of underground minerals.
Darien Fernandez, a member of the town council in Taos, New Mexico, said he’s concerned that Pearce could further Trump’s oil and gas agenda “without any care to sensitive critical habitats for wildlife or the needs of locals in communities.”
Environmental groups raised concerns about Pearce's prior business with the oil industry and his past advocacy for selling public lands. At a February hearing during the confirmation process, Pearce said large scale sales wouldn’t be allowed without congressional approval.
“I do not believe that we're going to go out and wholesale land from the federal government,” Pearce said. “That, again, has been stated by the Secretary and Federal law says that we can't do that from the BLM itself.”
The following Mountain West senators voted to approve the nomination.
- Sen. John Barrasso [R-Wyoming]
- Sen. Mike Crapo [R-Idaho]
- Sen. Steve Daines [R-Montana]
- Sen. Mike Lee [R-Utah]
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis [R-Wyoming]
- Sen. Tim Sheehy [R-Montana]
The following senators voted against Pearce’s nomination.
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-Nevada]
- Sen. Ruben Gallego [D-Arizona]
- Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-New Mexico]
- Sen. John Hickenlooper [D-Colorado]
- Sen. Mark Kelly [D-Arizona]
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján [D-New Mexico]
- Sen. Jacky Rosen [D-Nevada]
Sen. Michael Bennet [D-Colorado], Sen. John Curtis [R-Utah] and Sen. James Risch [R-Idaho] did not vote.
There were also more than 40 Trump nominees confirmed on Monday, including agency staff, international ambassadors and regional positions. Darin Smith became the U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming, after recently being accused of misconduct. Melissa Holyoak took that same post but in Utah. Matthew Anderson, from Colorado, was approved as the deputy administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
