November 18, 2024 — President-elect Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) to lead the Interior Department, which manages the nation’s public lands and waters.
Trump also said Friday that Burgum would lead a newly formed “national energy council” that’s in charge of energy ” permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation [and] transportation”
November 14, 2024 — The Interior Department oversees the creation and management of U.S. national monuments, including marine national monuments. The department also includes the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which manages offshore wind development. The following is excerpted from an article by Fox News:
President-elect Trump teased a “big” announcement Thursday night, sharing that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will lead the Department of the Interior.
“He’s going to be announced [Friday]…I look forward to doing the formal announcement, although this is a pretty big announcement right now, actually,” Trump said during his speech at the Americans For Prosperity Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. “He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.”
Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term governor, launched a White House bid in June 2023.
Bergum made energy and natural resources a key part of his campaign for the GOP nomination.
After making the stage at the first two GOP presidential debates, Burgum failed to qualify for the third showdown, in autumn of last year, and he dropped out of the White House race last December. A month later, he appeared in Iowa with Trump and endorsed the former president for the GOP nomination, days ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.