Deb Haaland
Deb HaalandReuters

The US Senate on Monday voted to confirm Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) to lead the Interior Department, making her the nation’s first Native American Cabinet secretary.

The Senate voted 51-40 to confirm Haaland, according to The Hill.

GOP Sens. Steve Daines from Montana and Cynthia Lummis from Wyoming had placed holds on her nomination, with Daines invoking Haaland's positions on pipelines and fossil fuels and Lummis invoking President Joe Biden's pause on new leasing for oil and gas development on federal lands.

During her confirmation hearing, Daines specifically pressed Haaland on her stances on fracking and pipelines in general, and particularly Biden's decision to revoke a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as his leasing suspension.

Haaland’s supporters touted the historic nature of her confirmation and the importance of having a Native American at the helm of an agency with significant responsibility to the country’s 574 federally recognized tribes.

The US has previously had a Native American vice president, Charles Curtis, who served from 1929 to 1933, but has never had an indigenous Cabinet secretary.

Haaland is expected to play a key role in Biden’s efforts to have the United States reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and in conserving a total of 30 percent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030.