Leading contenders emerge to replace Zinke as Interior secretary

President Trump said he plans to announce this week his pick to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who will be leaving the administration at the end of the year. The likely contenders have experience on congressional committees overseeing the Interior Department or hail from Western states, an important factor considering Interior's outsized influence in the West. Trump's eventual pick will need to go through the Senate confirmation process. Here are some of the most talked-about contenders. Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt Bernhardt had long been considered a shoo-in for secretary. But in announcing Zinke’s exit, Trump didn’t say the deputy secretary would be in charge of the agency and its 70,000 employees. Still, he will become acting secretary until Zinke's replacement is nominated and then confirmed by the Senate. Bernhardt worked at Interior in various capacities, including solicitor, during the George W. Bush administration. He has had multiple stints at at the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, representing clients with business before Interior. In his current role at Interior, Bernhardt has taken the lead on major initiatives like efforts to ease Endangered Species Act compliance, reduce protections for the greater sage grouse, open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling and direct more water to farmers in the West. “Bernhardt will be a strong leader,” said Ann Navarro, a partner at Bracewell LLP, a law firm and lobbying shop. “He’s an extremely hard worker and knows the agency’s mission. He also understands how the agency functions and is well-regarded among the agency staff, which is essential to successfully lead the agency.” He also strikes fear in environmentalists. “We cannot allow a lobbyist like David Bernhardt to transform our public lands and waters into oil and gas production zones when we have basically a decade left to avoid climate catastrophe,” Janet Redman, climate director for Greenpeace USA, said in a statement. If Trump prefers to put a politician at the helm, Bernhardt would likely stay in his post to smooth the transition and to maintain the policy focus. “It may benefit the president’s agenda to appoint someone else in that role so Bernhardt can keep the agenda on track,” said Dan Eberhart, CEO of oil services firm Canary LLC and a major Republican donor. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) Unlike other politicians in contention for the Interior post, Bishop isn’t leaving his current job. But the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee is getting a demotion and becoming its ranking member starting next month since the GOP lost its House majority in the November midterm elections. Bishop’s main qualification is that he has served for years on the Natural Resources panel, which oversees Interior, and has wielded the chairman's gavel for the past four years...MORE