President Trump's very empty cabinet has a potential new addition.
Trump announced Monday he'd soon nominate David Bernhardt to be the next Secretary of the Interior. The former deputy Interior Secretary has been serving as acting Interior Secretary for the past month ever since Ryan Zinke left the top spot in the new year.
Bernhardt worked in the interior department under former President George W. Bush, and was a lawyer and lobbyist for the coal and mining industries after that. The announcement comes as four other Cabinet-level positions remain empty, with two nominees stalled in confirmation proceedings. Another potential Cabinet official, Trump's pick to serve as U.N. ambassador, was announced in December but hasn't actually been nominated.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The news also comes just a day after Trump told CBS News that he prefers acting secretaries to permanent ones, despite the concern that anything a non-Senate-confirmed official does can be called into legal question.
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rulesSpeed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Actspeed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in VenezuelaSpeed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young RepublicansSpeed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
-
Trump ties $20B Argentina bailout to Milei votesspeed read Trump will boost Argentina’s economy — if the country’s right-wing president wins upcoming elections
-
News organizations reject Pentagon restrictionsSpeed Read The proposed policy is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest move to limit press access at the Pentagon
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new MideastSpeed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia JamesSpeed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
