Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) is one step closer to overseeing the federal agency that manages about a half-billion acres of public lands and national parks, a $12 billion-plus budget, 70,000 employees and the leases for more than 96,000 oil and gas wells that produce nearly 10% of the nation’s energy and generate billions of dollars per year in federal revenues.
In other words, the Department of the Interior wrestles routinely with budgeting and bookkeeping challenges and complex financial transactions and analysis on daunting scales. And that has some senators reviewing Haaland’s nomination to be Interior Secretary feeling a bit uneasy.
Haaland, who would be the first Native American cabinet secretary if confirmed, has struggled to accurately account for even for her own modest personal finances, offering Congress four different versions of how much income she earned during her last year in the private sector in 2018 before she joined Congress.
The second-term House member has also confessed to skipping her 2018 tax return, then filing it belatedly in December as her nomination was being vetted.
They’re Trying to Shut Us Down
Over the last several months, I’ve lost count of how many times the powers-that-be have tried to shut us down. They’ve sent hackers at us, forcing us to take extreme measures on web security. They sent attorneys after us, but thankfully we’re not easily intimidated by baseless accusations or threats. They’ve even gone so far as to make physical threats. Those can actually be a bit worrisome but Remington has me covered.
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Thank you and God bless!
JD Rucker
