Colorado: Bob Bennett

Two Republican U.S. senators agreed Wednesday to lift their procedural roadblocks and, hours later, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's right- hand man was confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote.

But the Republicans claimed victory, saying they had forced Salazar to reconsider his cancellation of oil and gas leases near national parks in Utah. The cancellation of the leases — issued during the last days of the Bush administration and which Salazar said were poorly considered — was the key motivation for Sens. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to place a hold on the confirmation of Interior veteran David Hayes as deputy secretary of the department.