Overview
- The U.S. Senate confirmed Steve Pearce as Bureau of Land Management director on a 46–45 vote.
- The agency manages large federal tracts that set rules for drilling, grazing, recreation, and protection of cultural sites.
- Pearce, a former New Mexico congressman who led the state GOP through 2024, will now guide those decisions.
- New Mexico Senators Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich voted no, while state Republicans praised Pearce’s oil-and-gas background.
- The state Democratic Party denounced the choice and warned that sacred places such as Chaco Canyon could face weaker safeguards, also accusing Pearce of masterminding a 2020 fake‑elector scheme.