Helping Make Biden’s Cabinet More Progressive

Today, the Interior Department is led by the first-ever Native American Cabinet secretary — someone who is fighting for our public lands and defending the sovereignty of Native nations: Madame Secretary Deb Haaland. Our former Vice President of policy and strategy Julian Brave NoiseCat led a sophisticated inside-outside strategy utilizing writing, earned media, organizing, advocacy, social media, and lots of memes to help make the case for Haaland’s appointment and confirmation. 

In the face of strong opposition from the GOP and skepticism from moderates, NoiseCat was one of the leading advocates for Haaland:

• In November 2020, he interviewed then-Representative Haaland for Politico Magazine. His profile cited Data for Progress polling showing 78 percent voter support for nominating a Native American as Interior Secretary.

• In February 2021, he reported on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s relationship with Alaskan tribal communities in an in-depth article for Politico Magazine. Murkowski later became the only Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to approve Haaland’s nomination, advancing her confirmation to the Senate floor in a narrow 11-to-9 vote.

• NoiseCat and then-senior climate analyst Danielle Deiseroth (now our executive director) highlighted six popular and progressive policies that Haaland can implement as Interior Secretary.

Now, Deb Haaland runs the Department of Interior — and we’re grateful for NoiseCat’s instrumental role in helping make it happen.

That’s not the only way we worked to make Biden’s cabinet more progressive. We also consistently showed with our polling that voters support antitrust enforcement to take on Big Tech. We used these findings to push for Jonathan Kanter as the Justice Department’s antitrust chief — a position he ultimately received.