Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) says biases drove Republican opposition to Rep. Deb Haalands (D-N.M.) confirmation as the 54th secretary of the Interior Department and that GOP colleagues are holding women of color to a different standard, an argument she will make in a speech Monday ahead of the vote.

Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe of New Mexico, stands to become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in American history. The final confirmation vote, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., comes after a weekslong Republican campaign to paint Haaland as a radical and extreme threat to Americas fossil fuel economy and Western way of life.

I think we need to be honest with ourselves about what is going on here, Smith plans to say in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, according to prepared remarks shared with HuffPost. Once again, a woman and a woman of color is being held to a different standard, and we need to name it. We have got to come to grips with the reality that time after time, strong women, and especially women of color, are attacked when white men with the same views are welcomed to walk through the door, unopposed.