Former Montana Rep. Zinke takes helm of Interior Department
WASHINGTON — Former Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke was sworn in Wednesday as secretary of the Interior Department, assuming oversight of 400 million acres of public land, mostly in the West.
Vice-President Mike Pence administered the oath of office hours after the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Zinke by a vote of 68-31. Several Democrats from Western states as well as those facing tough re-election campaigns next year, including Montana’s Jon Tester, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted for Zinke, a Republican.
Zinke pledged to “get to work” immediately and said he knows he’ll “be held accountable to get things done.”
A former Navy SEAL, Zinke praised his new boss as a “great president and a commander in chief I will fight with.”