The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination Monday of Deb Haaland to become Interior secretary and the first Native American Cabinet secretary in history. Attention will now turn to what kind of history she makes on everything from the future of oil and gas development on federal lands to the status of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Grand Junction. The Senate voted 51-40 to confirm the nomination of Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat who has been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. She faced considerable opposition from Republicans. U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Colorado Democrats, voted for her confirmation in preliminary votes, although neither could cast a final vote Monday because the weekendâs snowstorm delayed their flights back to Washington, D.C., from Colorado.