President-elect Trump is expected to nominate Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers as his secretary of the interior, according to multiple reports.
McMorris Rodgers, the highest ranking woman in the GOP House leadership, was first elected to Congress in 2004. Before that she served for years in the Washington legislature.
The Interior Department oversees the national parks and public lands under federal control across the country. It has about 70,000 employees and oversees about 20 percent of the land in the U.S.
Interior is not only in charge of running public lands, but it oversees energy production on federal lands. The department gives out permits for drilling for oil and natural gas both on land and at sea.
