Trump Shuns Sarah Palin, Picks Cathy McMorris Rodgers For Interior Secretary

Zero Hedge ^ | 12/09/2016

[SeekAndFind]

In what is being touted as further diversification of the president-elect administration, Donald Trump is expected to name Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) to lead the Interior Department, according to reports. McMorris Rodgers gets the nod ahead of Sarah Palin and Harold Hamm.

The candidates mentioned for the Interior Secretary were... 

• * Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee
• * Jan Brewer, former Republican Arizona governor
• * Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil
• * Harold Hamm, Oklahoma oil and gas mogul, chief executive of Continental Resources Inc
• * Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors
• * Mary Fallin, Republican Oklahoma governor
• * Ray Washburne, chief executive of investment company Charter Holdings
• * Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. representative from Washington state and Republican Conference chair

But as The Hill reports, Trump will tap McMorris-Rodgers, a five-term Republican who represents eastern Washington and is the chair of the House GOP Conference, to lead the department, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

McMorris Rodgers is a vice chair of Trump’s transition team and the highest-ranking woman in GOP leadership. She formally met with Trump on Nov. 20. Her office declined to comment Friday. 

 

If confirmed by the Senate, McMorris Rodgers would lead the 70,000-employee, $12 billion Interior Department, which manages federal lands for both preservation and energy and mineral development, controls offshore drilling and oversees national parks.

 

She would be Trump’s point person on public lands energy development, something Trump said he wants to expand as president. 

 

Trump opposes the Obama administration’s moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands and, in a September speech, proposed a “top-down review of all anti-coal regulations issued by the Obama administration,” an effort that would include the Interior Department.   

 

Trump’s transition website said he “will encourage the production of [fossil fuels] by opening onshore and offshore leasing on federal lands and waters.”

 

Trump, though, has professed a view of federal land ownership that is relatively moderate compared to some conservatives. 

 

In a speech this week, he said he would follow the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt and “conserve and protect our beautiful natural resources for the next generation including protecting lands.” 

 

During his presidential campaign, he said he “[doesn’t] like the idea” of transferring federal lands to states because “I want to keep the lands great, and you don’t know what the state is going to do. I mean, are they going to sell if they get into a little bit of trouble? And I don’t think it’s something that should be sold." 

McMorris Rodgers is a booster of hydropower and has pushed legislation to tackle forest fires in the West. 

She has voted in favor of expanding fossil fuel development on public lands and in federal areas off-shore. She opposes efforts to change the royalty rates on federal coal mining, something pushed hard by Obama’s Interior Department, and voted for a GOP budget that would allow the sale of public lands to mining companies. 

In the past, she has introduced legislation to require congressional approval before the president can designate a national monument, and a bill directing the Bureau of Land Management to release public lands it holds that it has deemed not suitable for wilderness status.

[hotsteppa]

“U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pick U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a strong advocate of increased oil and gas development who is skeptical about climate change, to run the Department of the Interior, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday”

What’s not conservative about her you say?

[Obadiah]

That’s how I judge it. Like the EPA pick, if the libs scream bloody murder then I know it’s a fantastic pick.

I hope this person believes in opening up federal land for drilling.

[faithhopecharity]

while Governor Palin certainly could have been Sec of Interior... she could also serve in a number of other posts.

we do not have reason to believe DJT has “shunned” her...at least not yet

[Lurkinanloomin]

It’s not.
She is the female Eric Cantor.
A John Boehner protégé.

[Captainpaintball]

I rarely, if ever true an American woman with a hyphenated name, and this one is no exception. She is one of the stupidest people in CONgress

[hotsteppa]

Also see post #18.

[rktman]

Enviro wanker heads are already ‘sploding over this one. Wilderness society, erfworks are already whining. Damn winning is AWESOME. Can’t hardly wait for nrdc and sierra club to wail and moan.

[gunnyg]

“I’m not sure how she feels about it, but to me Governor Palin is more valuable as an independent voice outside of any government structure.

Any President needs to have their actions examined to make sure they are representing the American people; Sarah has shown she’s unafraid to challenge the status quo no matter which party is in power.

Plus, she has a special needs child that requires constant attention. I think she’ll stay in Alaska.”

HEAR!
HEAR!

Dick.Gaines: AMERICAN!
aka: Gunny G
Semper President Trump!
++++++++++

[Future Snake Eater]

So he didn’t “shun” Brewer or Hamm or Lucas, but he did “shun” Palin? OK.

[Fightin Whitey]

Well, he got this one right.

[4rcane]

She’s not a good pick. She’s GOPe from what I’ve heard.

[Future Snake Eater]

She is the female Eric Cantor.

A John Boehner protégé.

Good, then this gets her out of the House and into taking orders from Trump.

[~Pandora]

I’d like to see Jan Brewer in the administration. Illegal immigration.

[KavMan]

Wasn’t the rumor she was getting the VA job?

[Art in Idaho]

Was hoping for Sarah Palin. Rodgers Conservative Review scorecard is an F and a Liberty Score of 41%, Info Here. Didn't know she scored that low. FWIW, all the Washington State Reps and Senators get an F. She is the best of the lot at Liberty Score of 41%. Patty Murray at the bottom with 2%.

[socal_parrot]

I notice none of the rumored “celebrity” cabinet candidates are coming through; Palin, Giuliani, Newt, David Clark. I like that.

[Nifster]

No one can say it was a shun. Who knows if she even wanted a DC job?

[Behind the Blue Wall]

Palin for Secretary of State!

[ifinnegan]

“Shuns”?

[lee martell]

I agree. Sarah can advise from the outside, the way Newt will probably be doing. I’ve said it for over the last two years; Sarah seems far more wound up and shrill in her delivery than before. I see fewer times when she uses a more relaxed, more coherent delivery, free of quips, non sequiter axioms and thinly veiled sarcasm.

I value her point of view, but Sarah has been through 50 Shades of Media Hell since 2008. Very few of us have any inkling what that feels like. George Zimmerman, Basseley Nakoula (Innocence of Muslims director) Eric Snowden, Officer Darren Wilson (Hands Up, Dont Shoot arresting Officer), all have a good idea of what it feels like when the media and most folks in your home country turn against you, all based on lies.