For weeks, leaders of Native American tribes all over the country have been urging President-elect Joe Biden to pick Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to be his Interior secretary. So have dozens of members of Congress, including Republicans.

But for some reason, some of Biden’s advisers have begun anonymously planting the idea in news stories that the Native American congresswoman, who chairs a House subcommittee with oversight of the Interior Department, is not qualified. What’s also puzzling is that these sources say a better candidate is a lesser-known man who is also Native, Michael Connor, despite dozens of tribal leaders telling Biden, publicly and privately, that they back Haaland.