On February 4, President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would nominate David Bernhardt to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Bernhardt became the department’s deputy secretary in 2017, and he has served as acting secretary since Ryan Zinke (R) resigned the position on January 2, 2019.

 

Trump tweeted, “I am pleased to announce that David Bernhardt, Acting Secretary of the Interior, will be nominated as Secretary of the Interior. David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed!”

 

Bernhardt is a shareholder at the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He previously served as a lobbyist at the firm and on Trump’s presidential transition team. He began working at the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2001 as the counselor to the secretary and director of the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs. In 2004, he became the counselor to the secretary and deputy chief of staff within the department. By 2005, he had become the deputy solicitor and, by 2006, the solicitor. He remained solicitor until 2009.

 

Trump will now send the nomination to the U.S. Senate, where a majority of senators will have to approve him.