{"id":48725,"date":"2026-03-05T15:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=48725"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:55:21","slug":"senate-committee-advances-pearce-blm-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/senate-committee-advances-pearce-blm-nomination\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Committee Approves Steve Pearce\u2019s Nomination to Head BLM\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Nash Jones<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-small-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/lp.constantcontactpages.com\/su\/4bUtl6p\">Subscribe to NMiF Enews<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1431\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-scaled.png\" alt=\"An older man in a suit sits at a hearing table with a nameplate reading &quot;The Honorable Stevan Pearce.&quot; Several people sit in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-48733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-scaled.png 2560w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-1536x859.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-2048x1145.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-24x13.png 24w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-36x20.png 36w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-05-at-3.34.30-PM-1-48x27.png 48w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce testifies before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Feb. 25, 2026, as part of the confirmation process to become the director of the Bureau of Land Management.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Republican former New Mexico&nbsp;congressman&nbsp;Steve Pearce&nbsp;has cleared&nbsp;the&nbsp;first confirmation hearing&nbsp;on his way&nbsp;to becoming&nbsp;the next director of the Bureau of Land Management.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources&nbsp;Wednesday&nbsp;voted&nbsp;11-9&nbsp;along party lines&nbsp;to approve&nbsp;the&nbsp;nomination&nbsp;of the former&nbsp;chair of the&nbsp;New Mexico Republican Party.&nbsp;U.S. Sen.&nbsp;Martin Heinrich,&nbsp;D-NM,&nbsp;who serves as the committee\u2019s ranking member, voted against Pearce\u2019s nomination.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While questioning Pearce last week,&nbsp;Heinrich&nbsp;acknowledged&nbsp;their&nbsp;shared home state and&nbsp;long&nbsp;working relationship, including&nbsp;places&nbsp;of stark&nbsp;disagreement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe called for the selling-off of public lands,\u201d Heinrich told his&nbsp;colleagues. \u201cAnd that makes it challenging for&nbsp;me to view his tenure, his potential tenure at the BLM, as one of stewardship.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While serving in the House, Pearce&nbsp;in 2012&nbsp;called&nbsp;for&nbsp;the federal government to&nbsp;sell off&nbsp;some of&nbsp;its&nbsp;\u201cvast land holdings\u201d&nbsp;to&nbsp;help&nbsp;pay down&nbsp;its&nbsp;deficit.&nbsp;His own politics aside, he assured Heinrich&nbsp;of&nbsp;Interior Secretary Doug Bergum\u2019s position on the matter.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe secretary has been very straightforward that he does not visualize any large-scale sales of land,\u201d he told Heinrich.\u00a0He went on to say that the\u00a0BLM director is not allowed to\u00a0\u201chave these large-scale sales.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong>WATCH: Senate Committee Advances&nbsp;Steve Pearce\u2019s Nomination to Head BLM<\/strong><\/summary>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BLM Nominee Steve Pearce\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/okZIj6l2Q9k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<br>Republican former New Mexico\u00a0congressman\u00a0Steve Pearce\u00a0has cleared\u00a0the\u00a0first confirmation hearing\u00a0on his way\u00a0to becoming\u00a0the next director of the Bureau of Land Management.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources&nbsp;Wednesday&nbsp;voted&nbsp;11-9&nbsp;along party lines&nbsp;to approve&nbsp;the&nbsp;nomination&nbsp;of the former&nbsp;chair of the&nbsp;New Mexico Republican Party.&nbsp;U.S. Sen.&nbsp;Martin Heinrich,&nbsp;D-NM,&nbsp;who serves as the committee\u2019s ranking member, voted against Pearce\u2019s nomination.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While questioning Pearce last week,&nbsp;Heinrich&nbsp;acknowledged&nbsp;their&nbsp;shared home state and&nbsp;long&nbsp;working relationship, including&nbsp;places&nbsp;of stark&nbsp;disagreement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe called for the selling-off of public lands,\u201d Heinrich told his&nbsp;colleagues. \u201cAnd that makes it challenging for&nbsp;me to view his tenure, his potential tenure at the BLM, as one of stewardship.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While serving in the House, Pearce&nbsp;in 2012&nbsp;called&nbsp;for&nbsp;the federal government to&nbsp;sell off&nbsp;some of&nbsp;its&nbsp;\u201cvast land holdings\u201d&nbsp;to&nbsp;help&nbsp;pay down&nbsp;its&nbsp;deficit.&nbsp;His own politics aside, he assured Heinrich&nbsp;of&nbsp;Interior Secretary Doug Bergum\u2019s position on the matter.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe secretary has been very straightforward that he does not visualize any large-scale sales of land,\u201d he told Heinrich.&nbsp;He went on to say that the&nbsp;BLM director is not allowed to&nbsp;\u201chave these large-scale sales.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his opening statement,&nbsp;Pearce&nbsp;declared his support for&nbsp;multiple&nbsp;uses of&nbsp;public lands,&nbsp;from&nbsp;preservation&nbsp;to&nbsp;recreation and mineral development.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe security and economic health of the country, especially the western states, rests squarely on the shoulders of the BLM,\u201d he told the panel.&nbsp;\u201cWe can and must balance the different uses of public lands.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinrich said&nbsp;he&#8217;s&nbsp;heard from&nbsp;many&nbsp;officials in southern&nbsp;New Mexico&nbsp;concerned&nbsp;over&nbsp;the future of the&nbsp;Organ Mountains-Desert&nbsp;Peaks National Monument outside Las Cruces&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;since&nbsp;Pearce&nbsp;opposed&nbsp;its creation&nbsp;while in&nbsp;Congress.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI very rarely look in the&nbsp;rear-view&nbsp;mirror,\u201d Pearce told&nbsp;Heinrich.&nbsp;\u201cEspecially looking at this job,&nbsp;and the amount of work ahead of us, I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;anticipate&nbsp;going back and reviewing that.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;senator&nbsp;expressed&nbsp;appreciation for that&nbsp;position, and others.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI also want to say how much I appreciate your interest in orphaned wells and&nbsp;abandoned mines,\u201d Heinrich told Pearce.&nbsp;\u201cThat\u2019s&nbsp;a place where I think we can really build&nbsp;some&nbsp;bipartisan support for that kind of work.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of voting against advancing Pearce\u2019s nomination Wednesday, Heinrich&nbsp;said he intends to hold Pearce to his testimony on these matters. \u201cBut,\u201d he added, \u201cI also know that commitments to follow the law by previous Trump administration nominees have proven unreliable at times.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pearce heads next to the full Senate for consideration.&nbsp;A date&nbsp;for that hearing has not yet been set.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-medium-font-size\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33fd0a3fa7d14fd54ef79a4867c8b44440a75aecd2cbd94d0cc22ea0b2c06228?s=48&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33fd0a3fa7d14fd54ef79a4867c8b44440a75aecd2cbd94d0cc22ea0b2c06228?s=96&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">Read more from our Host<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/author\/nashjones\/\" target=\"_self\">Nash Jones<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nash Jones Republican former New Mexico&nbsp;congressman&nbsp;Steve Pearce&nbsp;has cleared&nbsp;the&nbsp;first confirmation hearing&nbsp;on his way&nbsp;to becoming&nbsp;the next director of the Bureau of Land Management.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources&nbsp;Wednesday&nbsp;voted&nbsp;11-9&nbsp;along party lines&nbsp;to approve&nbsp;the&nbsp;nomination&nbsp;of the former&nbsp;chair of the&nbsp;New Mexico Republican Party.&nbsp;U.S. Sen.&nbsp;Martin Heinrich,&nbsp;D-NM,&nbsp;who serves as the committee\u2019s ranking member, voted against Pearce\u2019s nomination.&nbsp;&nbsp; While questioning Pearce&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":48733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10217],"tags":[10908],"class_list":["post-48725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senate Committee Approves Steve Pearce\u2019s Nomination to Head BLM\u00a0\u00a0 - New Mexico In Focus<\/title>\n<meta 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