Zinke's likely replacement has been 'the man behind the curtain'
Like former EPA chief Scott Pruitt before him, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has an experienced deputy steeped in the world of bureaucratic infighting ready to fill his shoes — one with longstanding ties to the energy industry he now regulates.
Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil, gas and water industries that rely on Interior’s decisions, is poised to become acting secretary following President Donald Trump's announcement Saturday that Zinke will leave by the end of the year. And that’s already alarming environmentalists, some of whom had said they might prefer to see a distracted, scandal-plagued Zinke stay in the job.
Berhnardt, who joined the Trump administration last year, has taken the lead in softening the department’s protections for endangered species, a move that will make it easier for oil and gas companies to drill on ecologically sensitive lands. "He knows how to make that agency work and he is why Interior is now considered 'best in class' in terms of agency performance," said Stephen Brown, a lobbyist at RBJ Strategies.
Green groups quickly called for more scrutiny of Bernhardt's record.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/zinkes-likely-replacement-has-been-the-man-behind-the-curtain/ar-BBR0gHC?li=BBnbcA1
You didn't expect Trump to nominate someone who wasn't compromised?
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