Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of
Jan. 6 attack surfaces
[April 11, 2025]
By MATTHEW BROWN and MATTHEW DALY
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee an
agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn
her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican
president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead the Interior Department's
Bureau of Land Management was announced Thursday morning at the start of
her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee.
David Bernhardt, who served as interior secretary in Trump’s first term,
suggested on X that Sgamma’s withdrawal was “self-inflicted” and he
included a link to a website that posted her 2021 comments. Bernhardt
indicated that people whose views don’t align with Trump’s should not
seek political appointments in his administration.
“I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President
Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it,” Sgamma said
in the comments earlier reported by Documented, which describes itself
as a watchdog journalism project.
Sgamma confirmed her withdrawal on LinkedIn and said it was an honor to
have been nominated.
“I remain committed to President Trump and his unleashing American
energy agenda and ensuring multiple-use access for all,” said Sgamma.
Since 2006 she's been with the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, an
oil industry trade group, and has been a vocal critic of the energy
policies of Democratic administrations.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the administration looked
forward to naming another nominee but did not offer a timeline.
The longtime oil and gas industry representative appeared well-poised to
carry out Trump's plans to roll back restrictions on energy development,
including in Western states where the land bureau has vast holdings. The
agency also oversees mining, grazing and recreation.
Sgamma's withdrawal underscored the Trump administration's creation of a
“loyalty test” to weed out subordinates who are out of step with him,
said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the left-leaning Center for Western
Priorities.
“That’s the world we're in — if that’s what happened — where being sane
and acknowledging reality with the White House is enough to sink a
nomination,” he said.
Trump has been testing how far Republicans are willing to go in
supporting his supercharged “Make America Great Again” agenda. Few
Republicans have criticized Trump after his sweeping pardons of
supporters, including violent rioters, charged in the Jan. 6, 2021,
attack on the Capitol.
Most congressional Republicans have played down the potential negative
impact of Trump’s actions, including widespread tariffs on U.S. allies,
and have stressed the importance of uniting behind him.
[to top of second column]
|
Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance, speaks during a
House Committee on Natural Resources hearing on America's Energy and
Mineral potential, Feb. 8, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
The Bureau of Land Management plays a central role in a long-running
debate over the best use of government-owned lands, and its policies
have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between
Republicans and Democrats. Under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, it
curbed oil drilling and coal mining on federal lands while expanding
renewable power. The agency under Biden also moved to put
conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling and other
extractive industries in a bid to address climate change.
Trump is reversing the land bureau's course yet again.
On Thursday, officials announced that they will not comprehensively
analyze environmental impacts from oil and gas leases on a combined
5,500 square miles (14,100 square kilometers) of bureau land in
Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and
Wyoming. The leases were sold to companies between 2015 and 2020 but
have been tied up by legal challenges.
Also this week, Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting
coal production. That will end the Biden administration's ban on new
federal coal sales on bureau lands in Wyoming and Montana, the
nation's largest coal fields.
The land bureau had about 10,000 employees at the start of Trump’s
second term, but at least 800 employees have been laid off or
resigned amid efforts by the Trump administration to downsize the
federal workforce.
It went four years without a confirmed director during Trump's first
term. Trump moved the agency’s headquarters to Colorado before it
was returned to Washington, D.C., under Biden.
Senate energy committee Chairman Mike Lee said he would work with
the administration to find a new nominee for the bureau.
"Its work directly impacts millions of Americans — especially in the
West — and its leadership matters," the Utah Republican said.
Utah officials last year launched a legal effort to wrest control of
Bureau of Land Management property from the federal government and
put it under state control. They were turned down by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
___
Daly reported from Washington, D.C.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
