As Rumors Mount Zinke's Days Are Numbered, Warnings About 'Man Behind the Curtain' Who Could Take Over Interior

While President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have both maintained that, at least for now, Zinke will remain in his post despite ongoing ethics probes, as rumors continue to mount that his days in the administration are numbered, so do concerns about his second-in-command, David Bernhardt. As the Interior Department's deputy secretary, Bernhardt would likely take the helm if Zinke resigns or is fired. Bernhardt worked his way up to serve as solicitor of the department during the George W. Bush administration. After that, as the Washington Post reported Monday, he worked as a lobbyist for polluting industries—which means that now, he has "so many potential conflicts of interest he has to carry a small card listing them all." Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.)—a critic of the department's approach to California water issues, from which Bernhart had to recuse himself for a year—and others have called him "a walking conflict of interest." "He is the guy behind the curtain who's manipulating everything, which he can do with his wealth of knowledge and experience," Jim Lyons, who served as deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management under the Obama administration, told the Post. As Jeff Turrentine of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) warned last week, Bernhardt's "long Washington résumé suggests that he would happily continue to carry out the Trump administration's war on public lands and federal waters—albeit with greater legal sophistication and fewer unforced ethical errors than his predecessor."...MORE