Dec. 17 (UPI) -- President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary and Michael Regan, North Carolina's top environmental official, to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, transition team officials said Thursday.
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the news to The Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico.
Neither nomination has been made official.
Haaland, who has represented New Mexico's 1st Congressional District since 2019, was previously the chairwoman of the state's Democratic Party and worked on President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. She is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and if confirmed, she'll be the first Native American to serve in a Cabinet secretary position.
As interior secretary, Haaland would be responsible for overseeing the management of federal land, natural resources and national parks. The department also represents the U.S. government's closest connection with the nation's 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Haaland issued a statement Thursday evening saying she's "honored and ready to serve."
"A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior. Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land."
Regan has served as secretary of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality since January 2017. Before that, he worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, a non-profit advocacy group, and he was an air quality specialist with the EPA during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Sources told the Times that before Biden settled on Regan as his EPA pick, he was considering Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board.
If confirmed, Regan will be the first Black man to lead the agency.
He'll be central to Biden's plans to battle climate change, which includes rejoining the Paris Agreement, reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, working to stop major polluters, particularly those impacting low-income areas and communities of color.
Meet President-elect Joe Biden's top adviser picks
Samantha Power
USAID Chief. Samantha Power (R), who served as President Barack Obama's U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, is nominated to head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI |
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Willliam Burns
CIA Director. William Burns has served in the U.S. State Department through
five presidential administrations, including as U.S. ambassador to Jordan under former President Bill Clinton and ambassador to Russia under former President George W. Bush. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI |
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Merrick Garland
Attorney General. Judge Merrick Garland (L) of the U.S. Court of Appeals was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Senate refused to hold a confirmation hearing for him. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
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Jennifer Granholm
Energy Secretary. The former two-term governor of Michigan advocated for clean energy in her state and helped the Obama administration build the multibillion-dollar bailout of Detroit's' auto manufacturers and pushed for them to invest in electric vehicles. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI |
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Deb Haaland
Interior Secretary. The congresswoman from New Mexico would be the first Native American to serve as the head of the department overseeing natural resources and tribal lands. Photo courtesy of Deb Haaland for Congress/Facebook
Pete Buttigieg
Transportation Secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person in Biden's Cabinet. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI |
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Marcia Fudge
Housing and Urban Development Secretary. The Ohio representative would be the first Black woman to lead the department in decades, if confirmed. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
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Denis McDonough
Veterans Affairs Secretary. McDonough served as White House chief of staff during President Barack Obama's second term. He has also worked as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Tom Vilsack
Agriculture Secretary. Vilsack also served in this post from 2009 to 2017. He is a former governor of Iowa. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
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Gen. Lloyd James Austin III
Secretary of Defense. Austin, a former U.S. commander in Iraq, would be the first Black leader of the Pentagon if confirmed by the Senate. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Xavier Becerra
Health and Human Services Secretary. The California attorney general, shown here speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, is the first Latino to be
appointed to head HHS. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI |
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Janet Yellen
Treasury Secretary. The former Federal Reserve chairwoman, seen here receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government in 2017, would be the
first woman to head the treasury. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Antony Blinken
Secertary of State. Shown at left with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao in 2015, Blinken served as Biden's national security adviser during the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Andy Wong/UPI |
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Alejandro Mayorkas
Homeland Security Secretary. The former Citizenship and Immigration Services director speaks at a naturalization ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 2010. Mayorkas is the first Latino to be appointed to head DHS. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI |
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Susan Rice
Domestic Policy Adviser. Rice served as national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration. Pool Photo by Andrew Harrer/UPI |
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Dr. Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General. Murthy will return to his role as surgeon general, a job he held during the Obama administration. Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions/Wikimedia Commons
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Anthony Fauci will remain in his current role that he has held in the Trump administration. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Avril Haines
Director of National Intelligence. Haines (C) served as deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and deputy CIA director in the Obama administration. Photo by Pete Souza/White House |
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Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield (L) served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs, director-general of the U.S. Foreign Service and U.S. ambassador to Liberia in the Obama administration. Photo courtesy of U.S. State Department
Jake Sullivan
National Security Adviser. Sullivan (2nd L), served as deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Photo by Pete Souza/White House
John Kerry
Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Change. The former secretary of state has helped spearhead programming on climate change and oceans for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Ron Klain
Chief of Staff. The former White House ebola response coordinator has been an adviser to Biden
for decades. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI |
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Neera Tanden
Office of Management and Budget Director. Tanden, shown
here speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, is
president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
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Brian Deese
National Economic Council Director. Deese
served as deputy director on the council and the Office of Management and Budget for the Obama administration. Photo courtesy of the Biden-Harris Transition
Cedric Richmond
Office of Public Engagement Director. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., is former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Pool Photo by Patrick Semansky/UPI |
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