E&E News via Politico/Greenwire (April 24, 2024, Posted to IPANM Website on November 14, 2024) – A Trump administration Interior Department 2.0 — if it happens — could well turn out to be a reboot of the original.

Particularly at the department’s upper levels, Interior veterans of the first Trump administration are being cited by their former colleagues and others with skin in the game as strong potential candidates to serve again, if former President Donald Trump wins against President Joe Biden in November.

“I think there are going to be a lot of familiar faces that will want to go back,” said Cole Rojewski, Interior’s congressional liaison between 2019 and 2021. “I think a lot of people enjoyed their experience in the Trump administration.”

Many remain hesitant to publicly ‘fess up to specific Interior ambitions right now. But in interviews with former Trump administration officials, Capitol Hill veterans, GOP-connected lobbyists and others, a number of names keep popping up.

Those among the frequently mentioned range from former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt down to other political appointees now leading agencies in Republican-led states.

“I think there are some great people,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trump’s first Interior secretary, told E&E News, adding that “there are a lot of areas where the president is going to need some help [and] there are some folks that served before and understand the issues.”

Zinke stepped down after two years in the top job in the face of ethics inquiries that he called partisan and unfounded. He was subsequently elected to a House seat that he had held previously. Zinke said both that he has “not been asked” about a possible second appointment and that a “president is hard to say no to.”

The former Navy SEAL officer further stressed that “there are a lot of variables” affecting the decisionmaking both of an incoming president and a potential appointee. Down-ballot election results, partisan balances in the House and Senate and the idiosyncrasies of Trump’s approach to team-building all play a role.

“There are a lot of people who [were] involved in his first term and played a significant role and made a great contribution. I’m sure they’d be keen on going back and completing the work that we began,” said former Trump-era Bureau of Land Management official William Perry Pendley.

For Full Article: Interior Alumni Eye Return For A Second Trump Term