Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to Step Down
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will be leaving his position in the Trump cabinet by the end of the year, President Donald Trump announced Saturday morning.
Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years. Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018
The White House has begun identifying potential replacements for Zinke, according to Bloomberg. Nevada GOP Sen. Dean Heller, Nevada GOP attorney general Adam Laxalt, Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker, Idaho GOP Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and Utah GOP attorney general Sean Reyes are all in the running to be next Interior secretary, Bloomberg reports.
…….The Trump Administration will be announcing the new Secretary of the Interior next week.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2018
Zinke has been plagued by media and investigator scrutiny into his travel spending, political activity and decisions as Interior secretary. He has come under investigation by The Office of Special Counsel and the DOI inspector general at least 15 times. The same two watchdogs investigated the four prior DOI secretaries a total of 11 times.
The DOI did not immediately return a request for comment.
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