President Trump has nominated acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to take the job permanently, ending his search for someone to replace ousted Secretary Ryan Zinke and giving his Cabinet a dose of stability.
Mr. Bernhardt, a former energy lobbyist whose clients included oil companies, had been serving in an interim role since Mr. Zinke departed under an ethics cloud at the end of last year.
“David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed!” the president tweeted Monday.
Mr. Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and congressman, was nudged out amid a swirl of probes into high-priced travel on government planes and a land deal in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana, that involved the Zinke family and Halliburton Chairman David Lesar.
The Interior Department inspector general referred the land deal to the Justice Department.
Should he be confirmed, Mr. Bernhardt would give Mr. Trump’s Cabinet a glint of stability during a tumultuous stretch.
His attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, and defense secretary, Patrick M. Shanahan, also are serving in acting roles after the departures of Jeff Sessions and James Mattis, respectively.
Mr. Trump also has an acting chief of staff at the White House, Mick Mulvaney, and an acting budget director, Russ Vought.
The president downplayed the tumult in an interview with CBS on Sunday, saying acting secretaries give him more “flexibility” and that he’s not afraid to shake things up if he’s not getting what he wants.
Mr. Bernhardt is likely to be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats, though he will have to contend with critics who say Mr. Trump’s Interior policies have favored the oil and gas industry at the expense of wildlife and treasured lands.
While Republicans say he brings much-needed expertise to the role, newly empowered House Democrats complained he won’t take the department’s environmental responsibilities seriously.
“Bernhardt spent his career lobbying for the fossil fuel industry. Putting him in charge of regulating his former clients is a perfect example of everything wrong with this administration,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva, Arizona Democrat.
Conservation groups panned Mr. Bernhardt as a “walking conflict of interest” who is too cozy with business interests and who, as a deputy, propped up Mr. Zinke’s policies.
“The secretary of the Interior should be someone who respects the mission of the department and sees the value in our public lands and waters beyond their capacity to be drilled, mined or fracked,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “Bernhardt’s time as Ryan Zinke’s right-hand man in their joint efforts to help corporate polluters at the expense of the American people makes it clear that he is not that person.”
Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, jeered the nomination as a “reward for months of work cramming America’s natural heritage into a wood chipper.”
Oil and gas producers welcomed the nomination, saying Mr. Trump picked a westerner who knows how to balance conservation and recreation with energy development.
“Mr. Bernhardt knows the department well, and understands the integral role that the department of the Interior plays in oil and natural gas development, both onshore and offshore,” said Barry Russell, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
House Republicans who will rely on their Senate counterparts to confirm Mr. Bernhardt were also elated.
“It’s a brilliant move,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, the senior Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. “No one is more experienced, and I look forward to working with him.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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