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SANTA FE – U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a former New Mexico congresswoman, broke her leg Sunday while hiking at a national park in Virginia, the agency announced Monday.
Specifically, the Interior Department said in a statement that Haaland was hurt while hiking in Shenandoah National Park, and a subsequent evaluation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed a broken left fibula.
Haaland was expected to resume her normal schedule virtually on Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman said. She also said Haaland was grateful to national park staff, hospital workers and others for their care.
Haaland, 61, who is the first Native American Cabinet secretary, is an avid runner who completed the Boston Marathon last year. An Interior Department spokeswoman did not provide additional details about exactly how her injury occurred, but said Haaland would not need to undergo surgery.
Haaland, who is a Laguna Pueblo member and former San Felipe Pueblo tribal administrator, was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as interior secretary and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2021.
Previously, she served as the chairwoman of New Mexico’s Democratic Party and was elected to represent the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District in 2018. Haaland won reelection in 2020, but resigned from Congress after being confirmed as interior secretary.
