The Senate easily confirmed Doug Burgum as secretary of the Interior Department Thursday, a job that positions him to act on President Donald Trump’s energy strategy.
The 79-18 vote makes the wealthy former North Dakota governor the official in charge of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” plans as Interior oversees energy production on public land and in federal waters. Burgum promised in his nomination hearing to open more areas up for production of oil, natural gas and coal and warned that too much emphasis had been placed on renewable energy projects during the Biden administration, a stance that worried some Democrats.
One of Burgum’s first policy goals will be to dismantle Interior’s support for offshore wind power development. Trump ordered Interior to halt any new lease sales that would allow wind companies to develop projects on public land and to stop any new permitting for wind power development.
Burgum will also get a seat on the National Security Council per an executive order Trump signed on his first day in office. Trump had earlier tapped Burgum to lead a National Energy Council, but plans for that body remain murky as bureaucratic infighting took over its organization and even its possible name.
“DOI desperately needs a leader who will act. Gov. Burgum is that leader,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) said on the Senate floor Wednesday before Burgum’s cloture vote.
Democrats on the Senate energy committee had generally supported Burgum when they cleared his nomination. The strong bipartisan support for full confirmation came even after Democratic governors urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to have his caucus take a harder stance against Trump’s nominees.
Influential environmental group League of Conservation Voters also pushed Democrats to vote against Burgum and other Trump nominees, particularly after Trump’s attempt to broadly freeze federal grants and other spending.
“Gov. Burgum sees our public lands and waters as merely America’s ‘balance sheet,’ which should be available to be drilled, logged, mined, and sold off to the highest bidder,” LCV said in a statement that quoted Burgum’s testimony during his nomination hearing and urged senators to vote against his confirmation.
Some Democrats pointed to Burgum’s experience running a state as reason they might come around to him — even if they ultimately voted no.
“Unlike a lot of other nominees, he’s got true governing experience,” California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla said before voting against Burgum Thursday night. “We disagree on some issues, but there’s actually an agreement on a lot of issues that impact California.”
Burgum gained a reputation as a moderate during his two terms as governor of North Dakota, where he pledged to reduce the state’s carbon emissions to net zero. He started several software companies that made him a millionaire after he sold them to Microsoft. His financial disclosures list millions of dollars in North Dakota real estate developments, some of which earned criticism for his use of tax incentives he oversaw as governor.
Burgum also has investments in film production companies. He pledged to sell off his shares in energy companies, which included First Solar, utilities Duke Energy and Xcel Energy, pipeline companies Kinder Morgan, ONEOK and Enterprise Products Partners, and oil company Targa Resources.
He has been a large proponent of the carbon capture industry, in which Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum and other companies seek to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and bury it underground.
Environmental groups have been wary of carbon capture, saying the technology hasn’t been proven at scale and government support for it unduly favors the fossil fuel industry.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
