The US Senate confirmed David L. Bernhardt’s nomination to be secretary of the Interior in a bipartisan 56-41 vote.
Bernhardt, who has been both acting and deputy Interior secretary, answered environmental and other groups’ assertions that he would cater to oil and gas interests that were clients when he was in the private sector with a pledge to remain committed to the highest ethics possible as the Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on his nomination (OGJ Online, Mar. 28, 2019).
The committee referred his nomination to the full Senate on Apr. 4.
Following the Senate’s approval, National Ocean Industries Association Pres. Randall B. Luthi, who directed what was then the US Minerals Management Service during George W. Bush’s second term as president, said, “NOIA looks forward to working with the Department of the Interior and we encourage timely decisions on important pending offshore policies, including the final Well Control Rule, Atlantic seismic permits, an expanded national offshore oil and gas leasing program, and a reliable and consistent schedule of future offshore wind lease sales.”
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