Trump picks ex-oil lobbyist David Bernhardt for Interior secretary

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/428395-trump-picks-ex-oil-lobbyist-david-bernhard-for-interior-secretary

By Timothy Cama and Miranda Green - 02/04/19 03:21 PM EST

President Trump is picking David Bernhardt, a former energy lobbyist, to be the Interior Department’s next secretary.

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Bernhardt, whose past clients include oil companies and others with business before the Interior Department, will lead an agency that oversees about 500 million acres as well as the energy production on that land.

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Trump will have to send Bernhardt’s nomination to the Senate, where a majority of senators will have to approved him.

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As deputy secretary, Bernhardt, a Colorado native, worked hand in hand with Zinke on his oil and gas leasing agenda and took the lead on many others, including the administration's push to drill in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the rollback of a number of Endangered Species Act regulations.

In the past he’s called the ESA an “unnecessary regulatory burden.” The rule proposal he helped roll out in July would make it easier to delist an endangered species and would withdraw a policy that offered the same protections for threatened species as for endangered species unless otherwise specified.

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He has also had multiple stints at the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, representing clients including Eni Petroleum, Sempra Energy, Halliburton Energy Services, Targa Energy, Noble Energy and the Westlands Water District.

Under ethics standards, he has recused himself from matters involving so many former clients that he carries a card with him listing the recusals.

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Republicans hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, so Bernhardt’s confirmation is likely to go through.

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