From today's POLITICO
CABINET MAKING: Another day, another round of tea leaf reading on how Biden's Cabinet may shape up. Biden said Tuesday that he would announce some names "before Thanksgiving." Meanwhile, groups are peppering the transition team with potential candidates (in one case going open source: Clean Energy For Biden posted an online form for anyone wishing to pitch their name for a spot in the Biden administration).
Jane Kleeb, the Nebraska Democratic Party chair who helped lead the battle against the Keystone XL pipeline, said her group was pushing for New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to lead Interior. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico is still considered an odds-on favorite given his long relationship with Biden, but Kleeb and others are saying new blood is needed. "The one folks in pipeline fights would like to see at the Department of Interior is Rep. Haaland," Kleeb told ME. "We want her in the top spot. That department needs to be native-led."
If the GOP holds the Senate, the calculations for Haaland get more complicated, one lobbyist source told ME. While Republicans in the Senate generally support one of their own, the chamber wouldn't likely extend that to a House member, the lobbyist noted. If Udall gets the nod to lead Interior and Haaland doesn't want to leave her seat to become deputy secretary, another name being floated is former Idaho Rep. Paulette Jordan, a member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in Idaho who lost a Senate bid this year.
Some left-leaning groups are still pushing for Mary Nichols for EPA , even though she would almost certainly be rejected by a GOP-controlled Senate. But progressive groups are still adamant that Biden nominate her or other progressive-backed nominees. "We're absolutely pushing to get the folks we need in there, forcing the Senate to vote down qualified candidates," said Collin Rees, senior campaigner at Oil Change International.
But it wouldn't be as if the Republican senators would take a hit at home in rejecting progressives' wish list, the oil and gas lobbyist noted. "It would be very easy for anyone in the [election] cycle for 2022 to fall in line" and vote against Nichols, the person said. "They'll all say California couldn't keep the lights on" and handily reject her nomination if it came to that.
Toney Toney Toney? One person that Rees and others say could make it through: Heather McTeer Toney. Nominating Toney would all but dare Republican senators to reject a former EPA regional head, current senior director of Moms Clean Air Force and a woman of color, sources said. A spokesperson for MCAF declined to comment on whether the transition team had reached out to Toney.
Iowa energy? Bloomberg reports the Biden transition team has contacted former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver about possibly helming the Energy Department. As governor, Culver helped create the Iowa Office of Energy Independence and Iowa Power Fund to invest in renewable energy research and development. Culver declined comment to ME.
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Interesting that there is no mention of Martin Heinrich, who a month ago shared his vision for the Dept. of Interior:
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich has a few recommendations for the next denizen of the White House: It's time to overhaul the Interior Department and how the nation manages its public lands.
The Democrat — who is widely viewed as a potential pick for Interior secretary should Democratic nominee Joe Biden defeat President Trump next month — outlined his vision yesterday during an event hosted by the Outdoor Industry Association.
Heinrich called for a "national outdoor recreation plan" and described an Interior agency focused more on climate change than on extractive industry.
"We need a presidential administration to have a modern vision for public land management that's really rooted in conservation and solving the climate crisis and very aware of the needs of all our recreation partners," Heinrich said during the event, promoted as "The 2020 Election and Beyond: What's at stake for the outdoor recreation economy? A conversation with Senator Martin Heinrich."
The New Mexico lawmaker lamented that both Interior and the Forest Service continue to operate under "foundational laws" created to emphasize beef production, timber harvesting or ore extraction, arguing the modern economy "needs very different things."
"Given the desire of Americans for outdoor recreation, environmental justice, climate solutions, the preservation of biodiversity, clean water and rural economic development, we really need to reorientate the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service toward those objectives," he added. "The mission of public land management should really be focused on serving the American public and safeguarding the values that deliver all of those public benefits."
While Heinrich said his proposed overhaul of Interior and the Forest Service, which operates under the Department of Agriculture, could be largely achieved via the executive branch, he also envisions congressional involvement.
"I think it's an enormous opportunity," Heinrich said. "I certainly wouldn't wait until legislation passes to work on really orienting those two agencies toward outdoor recreation, but at the same time I do think it's important that we have some legislative vehicles that also create bipartisan buy-in."
Heinrich also revealed he is drafting legislation to address equity in outdoor recreation, praising a program in his home state as an example of what he would like to pursue.
"We have real work ahead of us to make sure that every single American, regardless of their race or their ZIP code or the size of their wallet, can find the same sense of belonging in our public lands and outdoor spaces," Heinrich said.
He later added: "We are in conversations right now with a whole range of groups to figure out what that would look like and to draft legislation to do just that."
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