Sec. Haaland

Deb Haaland has been on an extended honeymoon since becoming Secretary of Interior two years ago but that came to an abrupt end Monday as environmentalists and/or progressives lambasted her from coast-to-coast for her and Biden's approval of the Alaska Willow oil-drilling project.

The criticism was rare for Haaland. who is routinely hailed for being the first Native American to occupy her cabinet post, but as a progressive working for a centrist president it was a matter of time before she took a tumble. Here's how it came down:

The most politically charged knife in Haaland's back came from none other than NM Sen. Martin Heinrich who tweeted out:

Was that Heinrich's opening attack on Haaland in their behind-the-scenes-battle to succeed MLG in 2026? If so, Haaland supporters were ready to fire back, with one of them telling us: 

Sen. Pirtle

It seems every legislative session has a scandal. Last year it was the DWI arrest in Santa Fe on Super Bowl Sunday of ABQ state Rep. Georgene Louis. And this session there is now this:

So who is the woman the wife of GOP state Sen. Cliff Pirtle, 37, said she caught him in bed with at the senator's Santa Fe rental Sunday morning? 

Was she connected to the legislature? A staffer? A fellow legislator?

Because if she is, here is a possible scandal brewing that goes beyond the story line of a guy caught in bed with another woman. For example, a senator having a dalliance with a paid employee of the legislature is fraught with legal implications.  

And were there other individuals with or without legislative connections at that apartment where Aysia Pirtle, her mother and kids in tow, confronted her husband and sparked a loud argument that prompted neighbors to call the sheriff's office?

Lapel camera video shows Pirtle, a dairy farmer first elected from the Roswell area in 2012, playing it cool with a sheriff's deputy, telling him he and his wife had an argument about "personal problems." He said no domestic violence occurred. His wife told the law that she had "shoved Cliff on the shoulder."

Will answers to the above questions soon unfold in a new Roundhouse atmosphere where sexual harassment guidelines have been stiffened and where there is now an Ethics Commission to handle delicate matters?  

The state House this session passed an updated Governmental Conduct Act (HB 5) making the exchange of sexual favors an ethics violation punishable by a fine of $5,000 to $10,000. Not that the Pirtle incident has any relationship to that, but it does show the "MeToo" movement is still alive in the Roundhouse halls and even a story line as old as "man caught in bed with another woman" is not to be taken at face value. 

As for Pirtle politically, he's finished. The Bible thumpers he was fooling in cow country will be looking for a new Trumper in '24. 

And a paid, full-time legislature? New Mexico probably wants to first sort out what's really going on with the current one. 

Is Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart livid enough over a House committee killing her favored Family Medical Leave Act Monday that she will hold up House legislation in the Senate in the session's final days? Dem moderate Reps Patricia Lundstorm and Marian Mathews were key in denying Mimi's dream now she could give them (and the House) nightmares. We shall see.  

George Goes Rogue. That would be Senate Finance Committee Chairman George Munoz cutting backroom budget deals with the Governor's team causing harsh criticism from fellow senators who said he's representing the wrong team. Munoz is sounding contrite but there's little question his dealings with new DFA Secretary Propst and the Guv's co-chief of staff Schlegel--both Munoz buddies--has left a sour taste in the upper chamber. Call home, George. The Senate is waiting. . .