The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Steve Pearce, President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, delivering a 46-43 vote after weeks of sharp political opposition tied to how the federal land agency would manage public lands.
Pearce’s confirmation sets him up to lead the BLM, a bureau that manages roughly 10% of land in the United States and employs about 10,000 people, according to the reporting. The agency also oversees large underground mineral resources, including reserves of oil, natural gas and coal.
Supporters framed the pick as aligned with the administration’s push to open more land for mining and drilling while rolling back parts of conservation policy put in place during the Biden administration. In contrast, opponents said Pearce represented a direction they viewed as hostile to public land protections, and they argued his background made him contentious from the outset.
Before the confirmation vote, Pearce faced scrutiny during his February Senate hearing about how he would approach land-use decisions. At that hearing, Pearce testified that “The security and economic health of the country, especially the western states, rests squarely with the BLM,” and he said, “We can and must balance the different uses of public land,” adding that “Local economies and future generations depend on us doing our job right.”
Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups were strongly opposed to Pearce’s nomination, the AP reported, pointing to his Republican Party leadership in New Mexico and his reputation for supporting public land leasing and industry access. One characterization cited in the reporting came from the Democratic Party of New Mexico, which called Pearce “an outright enemy of public lands,” saying he was beholden to the oil and gas industry.
The opposition also drew on criticism that Trump and Republicans in Congress have been unraveling regulations tied to former President Joe Biden’s approach to public lands. The administration has opened millions of acres to mining and drilling and canceled land plans and conservation strategies that were developed under Biden, according to the AP report.
In a separate argument that opponents used to describe the broader direction of the confirmation, the Center for Western Priorities said Pearce’s confirmation amounted to part of a wider assault by Trump and Republicans on public lands, citing recent changes including the cancellation of grazing rules.
In the hearing, Pearce sought to address fears that he would not adequately protect land and water. He told senators he grew up on a family farm where conserving land and water was “a necessity,” and he also emphasized the role of local input, vowing as director to ensure that local input is part of his decision-making process.
Pearce’s political history includes seven terms in the U.S. House representing a district that spanned oil fields and other public land, and the reporting said he had a conservative voting record with advocacy for ranchers. The AP also described his stance on specific conservation fights, including his urging of reductions to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument outside Las Cruces as part of a nationwide review during Trump’s first term, a move that environmentalists said should have led to rejection of his nomination.
The confirmation comes as the BLM’s management responsibilities remain central to debates over how federal land and minerals are used, who gets a say in decisions, and how far conservation protections will be rolled back or replaced.