The most significant news for U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland’s, D-District 1 Rep., Interior Secretary nomination didn’t come during the second day of her confirmation hearing, but afterwards. That’s because U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., a conservative Democrat announced he would vote in favor of her nomination. With an evenly split 50-50 chamber between those who caucus with Democrats and Republicans, Manchin has an outsized influence on nominations. Manchin is also the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which held the confirmation hearing for Haaland this week (week of Feb. 22).

By Matthew Reichbach |
NMPoliticalReport.com

“President Trump incited this assault on democracy and the rule of law, but he will not succeed. That is not how we do things in America.

“As soon as order is restored, we are going to go back and do our jobs and certify the election. In two weeks, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office—reflecting the will of the American people.

“I urge all Americans—regardless of who they voted for—to reject and condemn the violence we’ve witnessed today [Jan. 6] and this brazen attempt to trample on our American values.”

“America’s democracy has prevailed. Despite the efforts of insurrectionists who sought to destroy our democracy and attack our republic, Congress fulfilled its constitutional duty to count the Electoral College votes and defend the will of the American people. On January 20th, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will become the next President and Vice President of the United States.

“Today [Jan. 6], we witnessed the deadly consequences of President Trump’s lies and the furthering of those lies by congressional Republicans who objected to the count. The erosion of American democracy must be stopped and never allowed to happen again.”

“Domestic terrorists attacked our Capitol today and attempted to undermine our democracy, they failed. Some Republicans sought to overturn an election decided by the people, they failed.  We performed our constitutional duty early this morning [Jan. 7] and certified the election results. The people’s vote for President prevailed.

What we do now will define who we are as a Nation. We must focus Congress’ work on creating opportunities for our communities. We must focus on beating this pandemic and fixing our economy.”

On Jan. 7 Leger Fernandez  released the following statement:

“This President is a threat to the people and our democracy. We are resolved to do everything we...