Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that shows he is seeking a return to Congress from Montana.
Mr. Zinke was Montana’s representative in the House from 2015 to 2017, when he joined the Trump administration.
Mr. Zinke, the first Montanan to serve in a president’s Cabinet, left the department at the start of 2019 amid ethics questions dogging his tenure and the Interior Department’s acting inspector general having referred a probe into his conduct to the Justice Department.
The ethical concerns about Mr. Zinke’s conduct included his alleged mixing of governance and politics, such as by allowing family members to reportedly travel with him in government vehicles, costing taxpayers an estimated $25,000 in security detail for his vacation travel overseas, and by wearing socks with the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again!” in an official government Twitter account, among other things.
The paperwork Mr. Zinke filed with FEC on Thursday shows he is pursuing the seat of the 2nd Congressional District in Montana, which gained a seat in Congress per the Census Bureau’s announcement earlier this week. Mr. Zinke previously won two elections to Congress as Montana’s lone representative in 2014 and 2016 and is also a former Navy SEAL.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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