U.S. Secretary of Interior to step down at end of 2018

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‍U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke will step down at the end of this year, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter, saying a successor will be announced next week.

"Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation," Trump tweeted.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter screenshot on December 16, 2018. /CGTN Photo

U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter screenshot on December 16, 2018. /CGTN Photo‍

Zinke's departure makes him the ninth Cabinet-level official to leave since Trump took office two years ago. Other departures have included Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt.

Trump did not give a reason for Zinke's departure. However, the former Navy Seal and ex-congressman from Montana has faced the scrutiny of his use of security details, chartered flights, and a real estate deal.

Zinke tied his departure to the burden of "false allegations" against him.

"I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars defending myself and my family against false allegations. It is better for the President and Interior to focus on accomplishments rather than fictitious allegations," he said in a statement on Twitter.

U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke's Twitter screenshot on December 16, 2018. /CGTN photo

Zinke has run the Interior Department, which oversees federal land, including national parks such as Yosemite and Yellowstone, since early 2017.

He has aggressively pursued Trump's agenda to promote oil drilling and coal mining by expanding federal leasing, cutting royalty rates, and easing land protections despite environmental protests.

Zinke, 51, was among Trump's most active Cabinet members, cutting huge wilderness national monuments in Utah to a fraction of their size and proposing offshore oil drilling in the Arctic, Pacific, and Atlantic. He became a darling of the U.S. energy and mining industries and a prime target for conservationists and environmental groups.

They expressed no regrets over his impending departure.

'Staggering ethical abuses'

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed Zinke's departure in a tweet: “Ryan Zinke was one of the most toxic members of the cabinet in the way he treated our environment, our precious public lands, and the way he treated the govt like it was his personal honey pot.”

“The swamp cabinet will be a little less foul without him,” Schumer said.

Jamie Williams, president of the non-profit Wilderness Society, said he expects Zinke's deputy and likely successor, David Bernhardt, to continue with the “drill everywhere” agenda.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke waits to testify before a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the FY2019 funding request and budget justification for the Interior Department, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

“Deputy Secretary Bernhardt has made it his mission to stifle climate science and silence the public so polluters can profit,” said Williams. “Unfortunately, even with Secretary Zinke out, the Interior Department remains disturbingly biased in favor of special interests over the health of American communities and the public lands that they love.”

Nancy Pelosi, the incoming speaker of the House of Representatives, also offered a harsh assessment.

"Secretary Zinke has been a shameless handmaiden for the special interests," she said in a statement.

"His staggering ethical abuses have delivered a serious and lasting blow to America's public lands, environment, clean air and clean water," she said.

Zinke's planned departure will see him leave office before the newly Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is seated, meaning he will avoid the threat of legislative investigation come January.

Riding with Pence

Zinke had been the subject of some 15 investigations, including one for taking a government security detail with him on a vacation to Turkey, according to The Washington Post.

In July, the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General began investigating a Montana land deal between a foundation Zinke set up and a development group backed by the chairman of oil service company Halliburton Co, which has business with the Interior Department.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke steps from Air Force One in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., December 4, 2017. /VCG Photo

In late October, that investigation was referred to the U.S. Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation, according to multiple media reports. The Department of Justice and the Interior Department have declined to comment.

There are two other investigations of Zinke's conduct. The Interior's watchdog is examining whether the department purposely redrew the boundaries of Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to benefit a state lawmaker who owns adjoining property.

It is also probing Zinke's decision to block casinos proposed by two Connecticut Native American tribes. Critics allege he made that move, overruling his staff's recommendation, shortly after he met with lobbyists for MGM Resorts International, which owns a new casino in the region.

Zinke has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

He has also faced criticism over costly U.S. Park Police helicopter flights last year that allowed him to return to Washington for a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, and several other flights on non-commercial aircraft.

Trump, who has repeatedly praised Zinke, said on November 5 that he would look at the allegations.

(With inputs from agencies)