U.S. Senate Confirms Steve Pearce as Bureau of Land Management Director

The U.S. Senate confirmed Steve Pearce as director of the Bureau of Land Management on Monday, installing a former Republican congressman from New Mexico to lead the federal government’s largest land management agency. The final vote was 46-43, largely along party lines.

Pearce will oversee an agency responsible for approximately 245 million acres of surface land and more than 700 million acres of subsurface minerals. His confirmation follows a procedural vote last week and comes as the administration is prioritizing expanded domestic energy production.

The nomination drew strong opposition from Democratic senators and environmental organizations, who cited Pearce’s past record. As a congressman, Pearce co-sponsored legislation to undermine the Antiquities Act, supported opening national forests to industry, and in a 2012 letter proposed divesting some federal land to help reduce the deficit. He also urged a reduction in the size of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in New Mexico.

In a statement following the vote, Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said he voted against the confirmation because Pearce’s record speaks for itself. He argued the state cannot...