The troubling trend for women Interior nominees

The U.S. Senate has the constitutional power to vet and confirm presidential nominees to manage the federal departments, agencies and programs that serve critical missions on behalf of the American people. The world’s “greatest deliberative body,” however, seems to be singling out and obstructing qualified nominees for one important federal agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior. 

What do these embattled nominees have in common? They are all women. 

The Interior Department is the steward of our public lands, water, wildlife and natural resources. It is also a leader in promoting our country’s clean energy future, as the agency charged with permitting large-scale onshore clean energy and offshore wind development. 

Despite the Senate’s work over the past two years to evaluate and confirm the president’s nominees, it is hard to deny that women nominated to high-profile positions at the Interior Department have been subjected to a different level of scrutiny. One such nominee, Laura Daniel Davis, is emblematic of this troubling trend from the upper house of Congress. 

Davis, whom we have both worked with during our careers in government and in the nonprofit sector, has held critical leadership roles at the Interior Department in the Clinton and Obama administrations. She served as chief of staff to Interior Secretaries Ken Salazar and Sally Jewell and also worked on Capitol Hill, garnering the respect of her colleagues and the teams she led. She is now the key leader on Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s team, ensuring that robust and steady progress is happening on our country’s ambitious clean energy and climate goals. In short, she is undeniably qualified to be the next assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management.  

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which considered Davis’ nomination, said that she “is plainly knowledgeable and experienced and up to the task for which she has been nominated.” Her multiple hearings for the same position are unusual for a highly qualified nominee — and each time she demonstrated her expertise. Yet, Davis’ nomination has languished before the Senate for nearly two years. 

Davis’ situation is exceptional, but she is not alone in seeing her nomination hung up despite her overwhelming experience at the Interior Department and expertise in national energy policy. 

• Now-Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning saw her nomination held up and character attacked, despite her predecessor, William Perry Pendley, disavowing the existence of federal public lands.  
• Elizabeth Klein, whose impressive resume includes high-level positions in the Clinton and Obama Interior Departments, did not even receive a hearing for her nomination to serve as Deputy Interior Secretary before opposition forced her withdrawal. 
• Cynthia “Winnie” Stachelberg saw her nomination to be the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget stymied despite her impressive experience in organizational and budget management, including working at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. 

Finally, and most memorably, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was lambasted for allegedly “radical” views and saw her experience questioned in the media despite the fact that she had as much experience in federal office as her predecessor, now congressman-elect Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) 

Former U.S. Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.)and Tom Udall’s (D-N.M.) argument in early 2021 that now-Secretary Haaland was being singled out could easily be applied to Davis and these other nominees, noting, “Were either of us the nominee to lead the Interior Department, we doubt that anyone would be threatening to hold up the nomination or wage a scorched earth campaign warning about ‘radical’ ideas.”  

“The exceptional criticism of Rep. Haalandand the threatened holds on her nomination must be motivated by something other than her record,” they added. 

The Senate needs to vet nominees. That oversight is especially important to ensure presidents are not able to install unprepared, unfit or corrupt individuals in essential roles. The Senate also needs to demonstrate through its actions and fair consideration of nominees that it is more than an old boys’ club. It is unmistakable that predominantly male senators have set a consistently higher bar for women nominated to leadership positions at the Interior Department. 

Actions — and votes — are what we need to see. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) should put Davis’ nomination forward on the floor. 

Lise Guide was deputy assistant secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Interior Department during the Clinton administration. She is currently associate director at the Rockefeller Family Fund and co-founder of The Women Effect Fund.  

Jennifer Rokala served as state director for U.S. Senator Mark Udall and currently leads the Center for Western Priorities.