Less Than a Month on the Job, More Turmoil at Deb Haaland’s Interior Department

April 5, 2021

Well, that didn’t take long. Deb Haaland’s hand-picked Chief of Staff is being removed less than three weeks after her boss was confirmed.

Last week, news broke that Haaland’s Interior Department was forced to call off a 50 person party after the White House found out. Apparently, the out-of-touch event struck a chord because now Jennifer Van der Heide is being removed from her position in part because of the party, but also over other issues.

From the Politico story:

“One Biden administration official said that “the party was the thing that broke the camel’s back” and was the “latest lapse in judgment” on Van der Heide’s part in her new job, which she started on Jan. 20. The official also said that the party planning expedited the job switch, which had been in the works before the kerfuffle.”

Van der Heide has served as Haaland’s Chief of Staff during her entire, but short, career as a congresswoman from New Mexico.

The leadership shake-up comes as fourteen states are suing the Biden Administration over his oil and natural gas moratorium.