Senate confirms David Bernhardt, controversial Trump pick, for No. 2 post at Interior

[DesertRat]

The Senate on Monday confirmed David Bernhardt, who has a history of lobbying for oil, mining and western water interests, as deputy secretary of the Interior Department.

As the No. 2 official, Bernhardt will oversee an Interior Department that has dealings with clients who have paid his law firm millions of dollars in legal and lobbying fees, including two major players in California water: Westlands Water District, the nation’s largest irrigation district, and Cadiz Inc., a company that wants to pump Mojave Desert groundwater and sell it to Southern California cities.

Bernhardt terminated his federal registration as a Westlands lobbyist late last year, after then President-elect Trump nominated him for the deputy secretary position. But Bernhardt has continued to work for the water district, according to documents obtained through California Public Records Act requests.

The Brownstein Hyatt website, along with Bernhardt’s ethics filings, show that he and the firm have performed legal services or lobbied for clients that have dealings with virtually every branch of Interior.They i nclude Cobalt International Energy, which holds major oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico; Rosemont Copper Co., which wants to develop a large open-pit mine in Arizona; the Navajo Nation, which has been involved in water rights settlements; and the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America, which represents oil and gas producers.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-bernhardt-vote-20170724-story.html

[Me.]

1. Which Dems Voted For Him

I didn't see it in article

[DesertRat]

2. I don't know either

I only read about the appointment in this article.