01.30.25

Hoeven: Doug Burgum Receives Broad Bipartisan Support in U.S. Senate, Confirmed as Interior Secretary

Senator Worked to Shepherd Burgum’s Nomination through Senate, Made Case to Colleagues to Ensure Bipartisan Vote for Confirmation

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior with a bipartisan vote of 79 to 18. As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Hoeven has been working to shepherd Burgum’s nomination through the Senate and swiftly secure his confirmation. The senator repeatedly made the case to his colleagues, stressing Burgum’s experience with issues surrounding public lands and his broad support from Native American tribes.

          “With the right kind of policies and a focus on innovation, our nation can be energy dominant, supporting a more secure nation, a stronger economy and more affordable living for the American people,” said Hoeven. “Doug Burgum clearly understands the potential of our abundant, taxpayer-owned energy resources and will treat them as the strategic asset they are, including our oil, gas and coal reserves. Coupled with his strong relationship with Native American tribes and his support for maintaining access to public lands for multiple use, he is the right person for the job. That’s the case I worked to make to my colleagues, and I appreciate their support in promptly confirming Doug as our nation’s 55th Secretary of the Interior. I look forward to continuing our work together as he enters this new role.”

Hoeven will now work with Burgum in his role as Interior Secretary and head of the National Energy Dominance Council to rescind the harmful Green New Deal policies imposed by the Biden-Harris administration. Hoeven’s priorities include:

  • Pushing back on overreaching and restrictive federal rules, like those imposed by President Biden through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which would fall under Burgum’s authority as Interior Secretary. These include:
    • The Public Lands Rule, which would overhaul the management of more than 245 million acres of taxpayer-owned lands and establish “conservation leases” to lock away federal lands.
    • The Resource Management Plan (RMP) for North Dakota, which closes off leasing to vast areas of potential federal oil and gas acreage and a majority of federal coal acreage in the state.
  • Advancing his BLM Mineral Spacing Act, which would remove duplicative BLM permitting regulations and better respect the rights of private mineral holders.

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