WASHINGTON — The Senate approved a new interior secretary Wednesday — Ryan Zinke, a Republican congressman from Montana — after the nomination was ferried to a vote by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Murkowski heads the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which was responsible for vetting Zinke's nomination to head the department responsible for federal lands and resources. Murkowski also leads the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department budget.
The Interior Department plays a key role in Alaska, where nearly 70 percent of the state is owned by the federal government, behind Nevada, Utah and Idaho. Through the department's Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, Interior manages an area in Alaska larger than Texas, Murkowski noted on the Senate floor Tuesday.
The Senate voted 68-31 to confirm Zinke's nomination Wednesday.
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Zinke served in Congress in 2015 and 2016, after time as a Montana state senator and 22 years as a Navy SEAL.
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Zinke is an outdoorsman who has advocated protecting public lands and strenuously opposed turning federal lands over to state control. During the Republican National Convention in 2016, he resigned as a delegate to the convention over an Alaska-offered provision to the party platform: The language called on Congress to pass a law requiring the federal government to hand federal lands back to the states.
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But Murkowski and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, also a Republican, said they are not concerned about Zinke. Both said he was a great choice to head the Interior Department.
During his confirmation process, Zinke promised Murkowski he would visit Alaska once confirmed.
On Tuesday, Murkowski took to the Senate floor to advocate for Zinke, describing a "positive and very compelling vision that he shared with us" in his confirmation hearing.