In 2018, Haaland, 60, became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress. If the Senate confirms her as head of the Interior Department, she would make similar history as the first Native American Cabinet secretary and the first Native American to serve as the top steward of Americas public lands and natural resources.

A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior, Haaland tweeted late Thursday. Growing up in my mothers Pueblo household made me fierce. Ill be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land. I am honored and ready to serve.

In its formal announcement, the Biden transition team said Haaland will be ready on day one to protect our environment and fight for a clean energy future.

Haaland is a barrier-breaking public servant who has spent her career fighting for families, including in Tribal Nations, rural communities, and communities of color, the announcement added.

The Interior Department employs more than 70,000 people and manages 500 million acres of federal land roughly one-fifth of the U.S. including the 62 national parks. It also oversees the Bureau of Indian Education and is responsible for honoring the governments trust responsibilities to tribes.

Indigenous and environmental groups hailed Thursdays news.

The nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland a champion of the environment and of Native people heralds a new era of conservation, progress, and healing in the Department of the Interior that is long overdue, Gussie Lord, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and managing attorney of Earthjustices Tribal Partnerships Program, said in a statement.

Haalands selection, which The Washington Post first reported Thursday, follows several weeks of drama over the key Cabinet post.

Native American tribal leaders and dozens of lawmakers Democrats and Republicans have been urging Biden to select Haaland for the position.

She has been a champion for our environment and public lands and has worked tirelessly to improve the nation-to-nation relationship between the United States and Indian tribes, more than 50 House Democrats wrote in a Nov. 16 letter to the president-elect.

But in comments to The New York Times this month, anonymous Biden advisers painted Haaland as unqualified for the job and instead pitched Michael Connor, a veteran of the Interior Department, as a better candidate.

As HuffPost previously reported , the snubs outraged tribal groups and Haalands other supporters. Biden transition officials insisted that the attacks did not come from anyone in a position to speak on behalf of the incoming administration.

Haaland has been on Bidens shortlist of potential picks for weeks, along with Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Connor, who served as Interiors deputy secretary under President Barack Obama . This week, Haaland emerged as the front-runner, but sources told HuffPost that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) were pushing back on Biden plucking her from the House, given Democrats single-digit majority in the chamber.

The House leaders appeared to have relented on Wednesday when Pelosi unexpectedly put out a statement voicing her support for Haaland.

Congresswoman Deb Haaland is one of the most respected and one of the best Members of Congress I have served with, Pelosi said, adding that if she is the President-elects choice for Interior Secretary, then he will have made an excellent choice.