Reports: Trump to Tap Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers for Interior Secretary

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump is planning to name Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., as his nominee for Interior secretary, according to media reports, picking a senior House Republican leader to run the department that manages the conservation of the nation’s parks and federal land.McMorris Rodgers, a five-term Republican representing eastern Washington, is a vice chair on Trump’s transition team and met with the president-elect Nov. 20. She serves on the House energy committee, where she has focused on promoting hydropower, a popular form of renewable energy in her home state.As the chairwoman of the Republican Conference, McMorris Rodgers is the highest-ranking woman in the House of Representatives. Her departure will open up a powerful role in House GOP leadership.The head of the Interior Department oversees 70,000 employees and a $12 billion budget, working on preservation and energy and mineral development on federal lands, as well as offshore drilling. The broad array of responsibilities has sometimes led the department to be jokingly referred to as the “Department of Everything Else.”If confirmed by the Senate, she would likely be charged with increasing energy development on public lands, an area in which Trump has promised to “lift restrictions.”  Continue reading...