Pelosi pushes Rep. Deb Haaland for interior secretary as Biden finalizes environmental team
President-elect Joe Biden is putting the final touches on his team leading environmental policy across the U.S., but still has a few key selections left to announce.
After announcing his transportation and energy secretaries this week, as well as his climate czar and head of the Council on Environmental Quality, Biden has yet to name his picks to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department. But Biden is reportedly close to nominating Michael Regan and Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to those roles, respectively, with the latter getting some high-profile support.
Biden has so far nabbed two Democratic congressmembers from the House's already-slim majority, and his reported top choice of Haaland for interior secretary would only narrow House Democrats' power further. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday encouraged Biden to pick Haaland anyway, saying she "knows the territory" and would be an "excellent choice" for the post.
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Biden is meanwhile "close" to naming Regan, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to lead the EPA, people close to the matter tell Axios. Regan also served in air quality roles under former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
So far, Biden has picked former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to lead the Department of Transportation, former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy as his climate czar, and former Secretary of State John Kerry as his special presidential envoy for climate. And on Wednesday, Biden picked environmental lawyer and federal government veteran Brenda Mallory to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, The New York Times reports. Mallory will likely bring a focus on environmental justice to the role.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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