Burgum, a one-time candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination turned visible Trump campaign surrogate, has been among the president’s least controversial nominees. He advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week in a nearly unanimous vote, with only Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) voting against the nomination.
Wyden, the mastermind of the renewable energy tax credits within the Inflation Reduction Act, cited President Trump’s opposition to the cuts in opposing both Burgum and Energy secretary nominee Chris Wright, who is also unlikely to face significant Senate opposition.
“I cannot support these nominees who will carry out Trump’s policies that throw out America’s greatest advantages,” Wyden said last week.
As Interior secretary, Burgum will oversee environmental policy and the nation’s public lands. Trump has vowed on the campaign trail and in his early actions as president to expand oil and gas development and roll back environmental protections enacted under the Biden administration.
In remarks at his confirmation hearing, Burgum signaled support for those priorities, saying, “We live in a time of tremendous abundance, and we can access that abundance by prioritizing innovation over regulation.”
The vote comes the day after the Senate confirmed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in a 56-42 vote.
Read more at TheHill.com.
