President-elect Trump on Thursday formally announced he wants Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., to lead the Interior Department, vaulting the Iraq War veteran into a crucial Cabinet post for western Americans just eight years after he began his political career.
“I am pleased to nominate Congressman Ryan Zinke as our Secretary of the Interior. He has built one of the strongest track records on championing regulatory relief, forest management, responsible energy development and public land issues,” Trump said in a statement.
He added, “As a former Navy SEAL, he has incredible leadership skills and an attitude of doing whatever it takes to win. America is the most beautiful country in the world and he is going to help keep it that way with smart management of our federal lands.”
“At the same time, my administration’s goal is to repeal bad regulations and use our natural resources to create jobs and wealth for the American people, and Ryan will explore every possibility for how we can safely and responsibly do that.”
Zinke said, “As someone who grew up in a logging and rail town and hiking in Glacier National Park, I am honored and humbled to be asked to serve Montana and America as Secretary of Interior.”
He added, “As inscribed in the stone archway of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana, I shall faithfully uphold Teddy Roosevelt’s belief that our treasured public lands are ‘for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.’ I will work tirelessly to ensure our public lands are managed and preserved in a way that benefits everyone for generations to come.”
“Most important, our sovereign Indian Nations and territories must have the respect and freedom they deserve,” the Montana Republican said.
The nomination continues a trend in Trump’s transition of picking former military officers for Cabinet picks. Zinke spent 23 years as a Navy Seal, a career that culminated in leading a task force of 3,500 special forces operators in during the second Iraq War, in which he earned two Bronze Stars.
He will lead a department that controls almost half the land in the West and has broad power to influence environmental and energy policies.
Trump has chosen three generals for other senior administration positions, demonstrating a marked trust in military officers. Zinke’s military experience, combined with the policy decisions he can influence within the Interior Department, also suggest that Trump might receive significant national security advice from an unusual quarter.
Zinke is unlikely to lend momentum to the congressional conservatives who want the federal government to devolve control of land back to the states, but he favors developing energy resources on federal land. In March, he accused the Army Corps of Engineers of short-circuiting the permitting process for a construction project that would have facilitated coal exports.
He also supports “fracking,” a drilling method much-maligned by environmental groups but critical to the natural gas boom in the United States.
Additionally, natural gas has major foreign policy significance, as Zinke knows, affecting American dependence on Middle Eastern oil producers and potentially undermining Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to deprive eastern European countries of natural gas at times of crisis or dispute.
“If we want to check Russia, then send liquefied natural gas to Eastern Europe,” he told Environment & Energy News in July. “Do a Reagan — cut them off at their knees.”
That could be significant advice, given bipartisan worries that Trump is too inclined to reconcile with Putin despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and aggression in other parts of the world. Trump exacerbated those worries in some quarters of the GOP by nominating Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson to lead the State Department, despite Tillerson’s friendly relationship with Putin.
Zinke’s nomination is a gift to Senate Democrats, however, as he had been on a collision course with Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who escaped defeat in 2012 but Republicans hope to oust in 2018. That didn’t stop his fellow Montana Republican from celebrating the nomination.
“Ryan Zinke protected us abroad and in combat and I know he will do the same for our treasured public lands as secretary of the interior,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said Tuesday evening following early reports of Trump’s decision. “In Congress, I’ve seen Ryan stand up and fight to protect our way of life. As a westerner, Ryan understands the challenges of having the federal government as your largest neighbor and I couldn’t think of a better fit for secretary of the interior.”
