The United States Senate approved President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the federal agency responsible for overseeing 250 million acres of public land on Monday, amid ongoing efforts by the administration to expand drilling and mining operations while rolling back environmental protections.
Former congressman Steve Pearce secured confirmation to direct the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management after Monday’s 46-43 Senate vote. His nomination sparked controversy due to his Republican Party leadership role in New Mexico and his history of supporting land leasing agreements with industry, drawing fierce opposition from Democrats and environmental advocates.
During his February confirmation hearing, Pearce sought to calm concerns by referencing his upbringing on a family farm where land and water conservation was essential.
“The security and economic health of the country, especially the western states, rests squarely with the BLM,” he testified. “We can and must balance the different uses of public land. Local economies and future generations depend on us doing our job right.”
The Bureau of Land Management employs approximately 10,000 workers who oversee roughly 10% of U.S. territory. The agency also manages 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights, encompassing significant oil, natural gas and coal deposits.
Trump and congressional Republicans have been dismantling regulations implemented during former President Joe Biden’s tenure that they consider harmful to business interests. The administration has made millions of acres of federal land available for mining and drilling operations and eliminated land use plans and conservation initiatives developed under Biden.
New Mexico’s Democratic Party previously labeled Pearce “an outright enemy of public lands,” claiming he serves the interests of the oil and gas sector.
The Center for Western Priorities characterized Pearce’s confirmation as part of a comprehensive attack on public lands by Trump and Republicans, citing recent cancellations of grazing regulations and other policy shifts.
Pearce, who served as a fighter pilot and Vietnam War veteran, represented seven terms in the U.S. House for a district covering oil production areas, including sections of the Permian Basin and extensive public land holdings.
His congressional record reflected conservative positions, and he championed ranchers’ interests when portions of Lincoln National Forest were restricted to safeguard the threatened New Mexico meadow jumping mouse.
Pearce has stated that his congressional experience and constituent meetings revealed that the federal government had become what he described as an absentee landlord. Rather than collaborating with states and local communities on land management decisions, he argued the government was imposing its will upon them.
In his new role, he promised to incorporate local perspectives into his decision-making approach.
During his House tenure, Pearce pressed the U.S. Interior Department to shrink the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument near Las Cruces, New Mexico, as part of a nationwide monument review during Trump’s initial presidency. He argued that reducing the monument’s size would protect established business operations on public lands. This stance generated enduring criticism from environmentalists who opposed his nomination.
