Daniel Herrera Carbajal
ICT
In his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of the Interior, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, responded to questions related to Native issues such as sovereignty and the epidemic of missing murdered Indigenous women.
If confirmed, Burgum will head a department that manages a half-billion acres of public lands, federal wildlife programs, and national parks and monuments. Burgum also would oversee many tribal functions, particularly the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education.
He would replace Laguna Pueblo leader Deb Haaland, the first Native American to hold the position.
If confirmed, Burgum also would chair a new energy council charged with promoting oil and gas development. The council could play a key role in Trump’s effort to sell more oil and other energy sources to allies in Europe and around the globe.
During Thursday’s hearing, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat, asked Burgum if he believed in tribal sovereignty and consultation.
“Tribal consultation to me as governor of North Dakota is spending time going to tribes, listening, sometimes listening for hours to really understand what the issues are,” Burgum said. “Working on things that are important.”
Burgum is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who was born and raised in small-town North Dakota. He first took office as governor of the oil-rich state in 2016 and won re-election four years later. He endorsed Trump after ending his own 2024 presidential bid.
As the former governor of a state with five tribes, Burgum has a long history addressing Native issues. Not long after he took office, protests broke out near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, over the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Fearing escalation, Burgum ordered all protesters leave the encampments by Feb. 22, 2017, saying he did not want protesters to be removed by force.
Burgum’s response to the protests raised alarms for tribes, and he and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe continue to have opposing stances on the pipeline, but the two maintain a solid relationship and meet regularly. He is considered to have good relationships with other tribes in North Dakota as well and is credited with significantly improving dialogue between the state and its tribes.
Montana Sen. Steve Daines, Republican, emphasized Burgum’s reputation by presenting to the committee a letter from the Coalition of Large Tribes praising Burgum.
“It’s been incredible for COLT tribes to have such a close supporter nominated to the secretary’s office,” said Daines. “He was someone in whom we have deep trust and confidence.”
COLT is composed of more than 15 tribal nations, including the Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Nation and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, Democrat, brought up the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, attributing the problem to a lack of tribal law enforcement.
Burgum agreed.
“One of the great tragedies is the lack of law enforcement on tribal lands, and the fact that we got organized crime preying on those gaps,” he said. “This is an unseen tragedy in America. The FBI list is now over 6,000 unsolved cases.
“We lost a college kid during spring break. It’s a Netflix series and the whole nation knows their name personally,” he said. “But we have the same individual tragedies happening over and over again in Indian Country and people aren’t even aware that it’s going on. We have to change our entire approach to this.”
Burgum talks about MMIW in clip below (2:16-4:23)
Trump’s ‘energy czar’
As Trump has dubbed Burgum his “energy czar,” he will be responsible for carrying out the President-elect’s plan of increased oil production. “Drill, baby, drill,” Trump has said.
“President Trump’s Energy Dominance vision will end wars abroad and make life more affordable for every family by driving down inflation,” said Burgum in his opening remarks. “President Trump will achieve these goals while championing clean air, clean water and our beautiful land.”
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, Democrat, pushed back on this statement citing military leaders acknowledging climate change is a major issue.
“Were you aware that they testified before the Senate Armed Forces Committee a number of times that burning more fossil fuels is actually going to, in fact, not result in the end of wars but could very well exacerbate and cause wars?” Hirono said.
“Within fossil fuels, the concern has been about emissions, and within emissions we have the technology to do things like carbon capture to eliminate harmful emissions,” Burgum said.
Burgum attributed the need for more fossil fuel-powered electricity to America’s race with other global superpowers like China to develop powerful artificial intelligence technology that can have scientific, economic and military applications.
“We have a shortage of electricity and especially we have a shortage of baseload,” he said.
Baseload power is the minimum amount of electricity required over a period of time, and is generated by power plants that run continuously. Baseload power plants are a key part of an efficient electric grid.
“We know we have the technology to deliver clean coal,” Burgum said. “We’re doing that in North Dakota. This is critical to our national security. Without baseload we’re going to lose the AI arms race to China. And if we lose to China that has a direct impact on our national security.
“We need electricity for manufacturing and AI is manufacturing intelligence, and if we don’t manufacture more intelligence than our adversaries, it affects every job, every company, every industry,” Burgum said.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, questioned Burgum about the expansion of national monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in his home state, under the Antiquities Act.
The monuments – considered sacred to several tribes – were created over the objections of state officials. Burgum appeared to sympathize with Lee’s concerns. The nominee said the original intent of the 1906 law was for “Indiana Jones-type archaeological protections” of objects within the smallest possible area.
Burgum later touted the many potential uses for public lands, including recreation, logging and oil and gas production that can boost local economies.
“Not every acre of federal land is a national park or a wilderness area. Some of those areas we have to absolutely protect for their precious stuff, but the rest of it – this is America’s balance sheet,” he said.
What’s next
Once the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources finishes its questioning of Burgum, it will send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote, either with its recommendation of Burgum or without it.
The Senate will then debate the nomination and vote on it, though no date for that debate has been set.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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