Tag: Ryan Zinke

Cook Political Report Delivers Bad News for Montana Senator’s Chances in 2024

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Senator Jon Tester

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s seat has been moved to the “Toss Up” category for 2024 by The Cook Political Report.

Tester had previously been in the “Lean D” column, along with other contentious races in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but now occupies a lane with other vulnerable seats in Arizona and Ohio. The Cook Political Report indicated it decided to switch the seat’s rating due to developments in the Republican primary, as well as President Joe Biden’s potential to be a drag on the ticket in the Trump-loving state.

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SEAL PAC Endorses Jeff Beierlein for U.S. House in TN-5 Race

Aaron Gulbransen

SEAL PAC released a statement this week announcing the PAC endorsed Jeff Beierlein in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.

“Jeff Beierlein is a soldier’s soldier. As a helicopter pilot in Iraq and a graduate of West Point, Jeff has the leadership and experience needed to help lead our nation in these difficult times. I could not be more excited about his candidacy and look forward to serving with him in the United States House,” said Chairman Ryan Zinke, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Secretary of the Interior under former President Donald Trump.

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‘Devastating’: Biden Ignores Lawmakers’ Pleas, Orders Massive Expansion of Utah Monuments

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President Joe Biden will order the Department of the Interior Friday to vastly expand two Utah monuments which the Trump administration reduced in size.

The president will restore protections for both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments located in Utah, the White House announced. Biden’s order will re-expand the monuments from their reduced size of slightly more than 1 million acres to 3.2 million acres.

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Trump Taps David Bernhardt to Head the Interior Department

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by Michael Bastach   President Donald Trump nominated David Bernhardt to head the Interior Department, replacing former Secretary Ryan Zinke who left the administration early this year. “I am pleased to announce that David Bernhardt, Acting Secretary of the Interior, will be nominated as Secretary of the Interior,” Trump tweeted Monday. “David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed!” I am pleased to announce that David Bernhardt, Acting Secretary of the Interior, will be nominated as Secretary of the Interior. David has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived, and we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2019 Bernhardt, the current acting Interior secretary, enjoyed support from conservative groups and Interior political staffers. Bernhardt will have to be confirmed by the Senate before he can officially take over. Should he be confirmed, Bernhardt would take over Interior as it goes through a major restructuring and rewrites Obama administration offshore leasing and land management plans that drastically curtailed drilling, grazing, and logging. Bernhardt would also oversee the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s (ANWR) coastal plain to oil and gas exploration.…

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Sources: Zinke Deputy David Bernhardt Likely to be Named as Acting Secretary of the Interior

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by Michael Bastach   President Donald Trump will likely name David Bernhardt, the current number-two official at the Department of the Interior, as acting secretary until a full-time replacement can be found. One source close to the Trump administration said Bernhardt would be a likely pick, and Politico reported in October that Zinke appeared “to be laying the groundwork to hand the reins to Bernhardt.” Bloomberg reported Saturday that Bernhardt was Zinke’s “likely successor,” poised to take over as acting head of the Interior Department. Trump announced Zinke’s resignation Saturday morning, and said he would announce his pick to replace the former Navy SEAL in the coming week. Trump also thanked Zinke for his service. 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 Zinke faced multiple investigations, mounting legal costs and pressure to resign from House Democrats. Zinke claimed allegations brought against him were politically-motivated, but they seemed too much to overcome. Bernhardt is a convenient choice for the president having…

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Environmentalists Celebrate After Zinke Calls it Quits

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by Tim Pearce   Environmentalists began celebrating Saturday after President Donald Trump announced Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke would leave the administration by the end of 2018. “Zinke’s days of plundering our lands and enriching himself and his friends are over,” Friends of the Earth fossil fuels program manager Nicole Ghio said in a statement. “With an average of nearly one federal investigation opened into his conduct in office per month, Zinke’s highly questionable ethics have finally caught up with him.” “Zinke will go down as the worst Interior secretary in history,” Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. Zinke has faced at least 15 federal investigations through either the inspector general for the Department of the Interior and U.S. Special Counsel’s office. The four prior Interior Department secretaries were investigated a total of 11 times. The investigations and the prospect of heightened scrutiny when Democrats take control of the House in 2019 were reportedly factors in Zinke’s decision, according to Bloomberg. “I am 10 for 10,” Zinke said during a Fox News appearance Nov. 30, referring to the investigations that have been initiated and concluded. “I’ve been investigated on my socks. I’ve been…

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Ryan Zinke Blames Radical Environmentalists For Deadly California Wildfires

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by Michael Bastasch   Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blamed “radical environmentalists” for the deadly wildfires raging across California. “When we’re prevented from managing our forests by these radical environmentalists — they’ve had lawsuit after lawsuit, they have somehow promulgated to let nature take its course — this is the consequence of letting nature take its course,” Zinke said in an interview on the Breitbart News Sunday radio show. Wildfires scorched roughly 250,000 acres of California, destroying more than 12,000 structures and taking 80 lives. Authorities say there are still 1,200 people unaccounted for in the wake of the fires. “We need to go back to prescribed burns late in the season so you don’t have these catastrophic burns, remove the dead and dying timber, sustainable harvests, get the small mom and pop mills back where they’re grazing the forest and return to healthy forests,” Zinke said. “You look at Finland. I had an opportunity to live in Germany. Germany has the Black Forest — their forests are healthy, they don’t have the catastrophic burns because they manage the forests.” “And I will lay this on the foot of those environmental radicals that have prevented us from managing the forests for years. And you know…

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After 150 Years, Secretary Zinke Unveils Plan to Reorganize the Department of Interior

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Ryan Zinke

By Printus LeBlanc   When Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke was sworn in, he came into a department that has not reorganized in 150 years. However, in the same timeframe new agencies were created, miles of red tape were introduced, and volumes of rules were added. The mammoth bureaucracy and inefficiencies have made the department one of the more despised government arms. Secretary Zinke sees that as a challenge and has embarked on an ambitious reorganization mission to make Interior more user friendly and less hostile to the people it is supposed to serve. The Department of Interior is responsible for conservation and management of most federal land and natural resources. The agency is operating in 2,400 locations with over 70,000 employees around the U.S. Interior sites get over 500 million visitors to them each year. Everything from the food in the grocery store to the raw materials used to make used to make Navy ships has at some point fallen under the purview of Interior. It would not be a stretch to say the department touches more lives everyday than any other federal agency, with the exception of the IRS. For this reason, it is important the agency run smooth…

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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Says He’s Fired Four People for Misconduct, Including Sexual Harassment

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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Thursday that he has fired four senior management leaders at his agency and he’ll continue to fire people to weed out anyone guilty of inappropriate behavior. “I’ve already removed four senior leaders that were guilty of inappropriate behavior, and I will remove 400 more if necessary. Intimidation, harassment and discrimination is…

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Republican Gianforte Wins Montana’s Special Congressional Election

Tina LaFleur

  The mainstream media’s fever dreams have once again been broken by the will of American voters – this time, in Big Sky Country – as Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana’s single House seat in Thursday’s special election. Decision Desk HQ called it at 10pm mountain time: We project that Greg Gianforte has won the #MTAL special election. #MTAL https://t.co/61tksgfeKf — Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 26, 2017 Gianforte will replace Ryan Zinke who was tapped by the Trump Administration to join the cabinet as the Secretary of the Interior. On Monday night, Gianforte made news when a reporter from The Guardian claimed that he was body slammed by Gianforte. Voters in Montana apparently were not particularly bothered by the allegation, though a local sheriff filed misdemeanor charges against the GOP candidate late Monday night. Follow real-time returns here.      

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