Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is under investigation from both House Republicans and the agency’s inspector general’s office for conflicts of interest related to recent decisions for which her daughter lobbied. A new report out last month reveals her daughter’s ties to a communist Cuban solidarity group.
In June, House Republicans launched a probe into Secretary Haaland’s decision to close drilling opportunities in areas that surround New Mexico’s Chaco Cultural National Historical Park. The Interior Department implemented a 10-mile radius around the world heritage site, now cut off from new oil and gas development for the next 20 years. The decision is detrimental to the Navajo Nation, now unable to responsibly harvest natural resources in their own backyard to a cost of $194 million over two decades. Haaland’s daughter, Somah, works for the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA), a far-left Albuquerque-based climate group that prominently opposed drilling in the region.
“Prior to joining the Biden administration as Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Secretary Haaland was evidently involved with the Pueblo Action Alliance,” lawmakers noted. “Secretary Haaland has purportedly met with PAA leaders during her time as Secretary of the Interior to discuss PAA’s opposition to oil and gas production on federal lands.”
Republicans added lawmakers are “concerned with Secretary Haaland’s compliance with ethical obligations and potential conflicts of interest given PAA’s opposition to oil and gas production on federal lands, Secretary Haaland’s involvement with PAA, Somah’s work with PAA to limit domestic energy production.”
Representatives also raised issue with Secretary
