That which cannot be said

The Senate Interior Committee held a hearing yesterday to examine the Biden administration’s fiscal year 2023 budget request for the Department of the Interior. The committee has posted video of the hearing here.

The hearing presented an opportune moment for Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland to let her light shine and she did not disappoint. In the clip below Secretary Haaland avoids answering the question whether gas prices are too high.

Staff anxiously placed notes in front of Haaland with the all-purpose answer to brain teasers seeking to elicit that which cannot be said. The all-purpose answer is “We’ll get back to you on that.” She appears to be a tad slow on the uptake.

Senator Manchin is the chairman of the Interior Committee. He posed a question that stumped Haaland as well.

There was one more brain teaser for Haaland before the hearing was adjourned. She responded with an answer akin to Judge Jackson’s screwball response to Senator Blackburn’s “What is a woman?” question in Jackson’s March confirmation hearing. Judge Jackson — she’s not a biologist. Secretary Haaland — she’s not an economist. She won’t be getting back to Senator Cassidy on this one.

One more highlight from the Wall Street Journal’s emailed Capital Journal news roundup this morning: “The Biden administration will propose a five-year plan for offshore oil-and-gas drilling by June 30, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Thursday at a congressional hearing, but she declined to say if the plan would include any new lease sales…”

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