The Senate approved President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell as Interior secretary Wednesday by an 87-11 vote.

The vote followed a favorable nomination report from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month (see Daily GPI, March 22).

“Sally Jewell has the brains, the experience and the drive to lead the Interior Department, and I’m glad my colleagues voted overwhelmingly to approve her nomination,” said Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR).

“She made clear in her confirmation hearing that she intends to strike a balance between the dual roles of conserving and developing resources. That’s exactly the right approach to take on the diverse issues facing Interior, including safely developing natural gas, maximizing jobs and opportunities from recreation and improving management of federal forests, including the O&C lands [Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands].”

Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah and Tim Scott of South Carolina, who had voted against advancing Jewell’s nomination from the Senate energy panel, were among the senators who voted against Jewell’s final confirmation. All 11 votes against the confirmation came from Republicans.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the ranking member of the Senate energy panel who had raised the possibility of placing a procedural hold on Jewell’s nomination in committee (see Daily GPI, March 20), voted for her confirmation.

In her new job, Jewell will oversee Interior policies governing oil and natural gas drilling on millions of acres of public onshore and offshore lands. Jewell, the former CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc., succeeds Ken Salazar, who has been a member of the Obama administration cabinet since 2009.

©Copyright 2013Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.