Trump nominates former oil and agriculture lobbyist David Bernhardt as new Interior secretary

Ledyard King
Updated

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced on Twitter Monday that he will nominate acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to the job permanently, saying he has done "a fantastic job from the day he arrived."

Bernhardt has been serving temporarily since Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke departed the Trump Cabinet nearly two months ago under an ethics cloud.

The Interior Department is a sprawling agency with some 70,000 employees that manages the country’s natural resources on land and offshore, and oversees federal lands that collectively make up a fifth of the country.

National parks, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs all fall under the secretary's purview.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 02: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) leads a meeting of his Cabinet, including (L-R) Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, and acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, in the Cabinet Room at the White House January 02, 2019 in Washington, DC. A partial federal government shutdown entered its 12th day as Trump and House Democrats are at an impasse over funding for border security, including the president’s demand for $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Environmental groups and their allies on Capitol Hill have been wary of Bernhardt, a former oil and agricultural industry lobbyist who also served in the George W. Bush administration. He had served as Zinke's deputy from July 2017 until he was elevated as the acting secretary in December.

Under Trump, the Interior Department with Bernhardt as a top official has looked to increase offshore oil drilling, expand mineral development on public lands and narrow the Engendered Species Act.

Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee that oversees much of Interior's activities, said he plans to conduct "vigorous oversight" of how the Interior Department oversees the industries Bernhardt used to champion.

"The president putting him in charge of regulating his former clients is a perfect example of everything wrong with this administration," Grijalva said.

In a 2017 ethics recusal letter sent to the Interior Department, Bernhardt said he would not participate "personally and substantially" from matters involving former employers or clients that come before the department for a certain period of time.

A Nov. 18 profile in The Washington Post mentioned the index card Bernhardt carries around with him listing the names of 22 former clients still covered by his ethics recusal.

The head of one of those companies, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, praised Trump's choice.

FILE - In this July 26, 2018 file photo, then- U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, foreground, and Jack Gerard, American Petroleum Institute president and chief executive officer, head up to speak during the annual state of Colorado energy luncheon sponsored by the Colorado Petroleum council in Denver. The chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee is calling on the Interior Department to halt work on oil and gas development permits and leases in Alaska and elsewhere during the partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) ORG XMIT: LA320

"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," association president and CEO Barry Russell said.

Trump was said to have considered several choices to replace Zinke, including Bernhardt, former Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller and Utah GOP Rep. Rob Bishop, the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee until last year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump nominates former oil and agriculture lobbyist David Bernhardt as new Interior secretary