Interior’s top lawyer confirmed without support from Oklahoma Senators

Top Interior lawyer nominee quizzed over public records law | TheHill

 

Oklahoma U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford did not lend their support for the confirmation of Robert Anderson to become the top lawyer for the U.S. Interior Department.

Anderson was confirmed as Solicitor of the Interior Department on a 53-44 vote as Inhofe and Lankford both voted against the confirmation. Neither offered a public statement explaining their vote.

The approval came as several Republicans joined Democrats in voting for Anderson who had drawn criticism from Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Barrasso claimed that Anderson’s specialty in tribal and treaty law wasn’t enough to warrant the top legal position at Interior reported POLITICO.

 

An enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Anderson was the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs and Counselor to the Secretary under Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. For 20 years, Anderson was a law professor at the University of Washington and directed its Native American Law Center. He had been the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School for the past twelve years.

Anderson also served on the transition agency review teams for President-elect Obama and President-elect Biden.

Senators from Texas and Kansas also voted against Anderson’s confirmation.