Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) made the following statement on the Trump Administration’s nomination of former Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and current lobbyist David Bernhardt for Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior:

“I am gravely concerned about Mr. Bernhardt’s record of working on behalf of corporations at the expense of the environment, and his history at the Department of the Interior during years plagued by ethical scandals. The Committee must do its job in closely scrutinizing his record and any conflicts of interest that run contrary to protecting the public interest and upholding the stewardship responsibilities entrusted to the Department, on behalf of the American people.”

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