Michael Connor was today favorably reported out of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to become the Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
There was no opposition to his nomination, which will now be sent to the full Senate for a vote.
President Barack Obama nominated Connor in July for the number two position at the U.S. Department of Interior.
RELATED: Nominee for Interior’s No. 2 Spot, Michael Connor, Has Taos Pueblo Roots
Connor is currently Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at Interior and a former top aide to Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) at the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee from 2001 to 2009.
Connor’s maternal grandmother was an original member of Taos Pueblo’s water rights task force, and his mother was half Taos Pueblo, but she was not an enrolled citizen of the tribal nation, according to press reports.
Interior officials say Connor would be the first person with ties to Indian country to serve as Deputy Secretary at the department, which oversees many of the nation’s federal Indian affairs.