Deb Haaland

Debra Anne Haaland (; born December 2, 1960) is an American politician who served as the 54th United States secretary of the interior from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and was chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017. Haaland, a Native American, is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe. Haaland's congressional district included most of Albuquerque and most of its suburbs. Along with Sharice Davids, she is one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress. She is a political progressive who supports the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. On December 17, 2020, then-president-elect Joe Biden announced that he would nominate Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Interior. She was confirmed by the US Senate on March 15, 2021, by a vote of 51–40. Following her swearing-in on March 16, she became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary and the second to serve in the Cabinet, after Republican former vice president and Kaw Nation citizen Charles Curtis (who, in 1893, also became the first Native American to serve in the US Congress). Haaland is the Democratic nominee for governor of New Mexico in the 2026 election. She will face Republican nominee Gregg Hull in the November general election.