Confirmation hearing for Indian Affairs Dept. pick unlikely during this session
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office has not yet formally submitted the nomination of Indian Affairs Secretary-designate James Mountain to a Senate committee that vets gubernatorial appointees, after a recent uproar after past sexual assault charges.
A spokeswoman for the governor said Lujan Grisham is standing by Mountain and plans to submit his name for confirmation, but is currently prioritizing the confirmation of her regent appointees to various New Mexico universities, which were announced this week.
“At this point in the session, we are prioritizing the confirmation of regents, as they cannot begin work in any capacity without being confirmed,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Maddy Hayden told the Journal.
She also said the Governor’s Office might pursue the confirmation of Mountain after the current 60-day legislative session ends March 18, as the Senate Rules Committee is allowed to hold hearings even when the Legislature is not in session.
Such a delay would allow Mountain to continue work as Indian Affairs Department secretary without a public vetting of the past allegations, as Cabinet-level secretaries are only removed from the job if the full Senate votes down their appointment.
Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, the chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, confirmed Thursday that Mountain has not been officially submitted to the committee for a confirmation hearing.
She also said it was her understanding his name would not be submitted until after the session ends.
Mountain, the former governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo, was appointed by the governor last month to lead the Department of Indian Affairs, after the agency’s previous secretary, Lynn Trujillo, stepped down in November.
But his appointment has generated concern among members of state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force, due to a 2007 rape allegation levied against Mountain by his ex-wife.
Criminal charges against Mountain were filed a year later but were reportedly dismissed in 2010 after prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence for him to stand trial.
Mountain was the governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo, located just north of Santa Fe, at the time of his arrest and was later re-elected to another term as tribal governor.
His appointment has divided Native American lawmakers, with some defending Mountain and others, including Sen. Shannon Pinto, D-Tohatchi, vowing to oppose his confirmation.
“There’s not any compromise for me to support this confirmation in any manner,” Pinto told The Associated Press. “It’s just not something that can happen right now. This is not the time. This is not the place. This is not a position that can be compromised.”
The Governor’s Office has not wavered from its selection of Mountain, however, pointing out the judicial process did not lead to Mountain being convicted of any crimes.
In addition, Hayden said the governor has “full faith” in the leadership ability of both Mountain and Cultural Affairs Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego, whose reappointment has drawn opposition from critics who say she has dismissed without reason a string of state museum leaders.
Unlike Mountain, however, Garcia y Griego’s nomination has been submitted and the Senate Rules Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing Friday on her reappointment.