Cantwell Votes 'No' On Trump's Interior Secretary Pick

ENUMCLAW, WA - U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, on Tuesday voted against President Donald Trump's pick to be Secretary of the Interior during a Senate committee meeting.

Trump's pick, Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, was still approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee 16-6. Cantwell cast her vote out of concern that the Trump administration would prioritize energy development on public lands.

"The Trump administration has made it clear it wants to pursue an aggressive energy development agenda undoing reasonable protections on environmentally sensitive lands and waters," she said to Zinke, according to The Hill. "I hope that this conversation about how we provide good stewardship will continue. I know you want to be a Teddy Roosevelt kind of secretary of Interior, but right now you’re working with an administration who, in their own infrastructure bill, say they’re going to pay for it by oil and gas on federal lands. I don’t know where that stops."

Zinke's confirmation is still subject to a vote in the full Senate. The Interior secretary oversees a number of federal agencies, including the National Parks Service, which operates Mt. Rainier National Park.

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