Obama withdraws nomination for top Interior official

President Obama Monday formally withdrew the nomination of Tommy Beaudreau to be the assistant secretary of the interior, since Beaudreau has taken another position at the Interior Department.

Obama had sent Beaudreau’s nomination to the Senate for confirmation in January after announcing it in October. He would have replaced Rhea Suh, who was nominated to be Interior’s assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

{mosads}Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced in March that Beaudreau would instead become her chief of staff. Obama’s Monday announcement formalizes the administration’s decision.

Beaudreau first came to Interior in June 2010 to reorganize the federal government’s oversight of offshore oil and gas drilling. He became director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2011 when it was created to succeed the Minerals Management Service.