Breaking news. President-elect Donald Trump has decided to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior in his second administration. Burgm will replace outgoing Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), who was the first Native American to serve in a secretarial role in a presidential cabinet.
Of the federal departments, the Department of the Interior is the most involved in Indian Country, as it is home to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, the Office of Special Trustee, and the Bureau of Land Management.
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Burgum has been governor of North Dakota since 2016. The Governor’s Office has worked for years with tribal nations, legislators, and the Office of the State Tax Commissioner to negotiate an acceptable framework for revenue sharing agreements and to avoid a double taxation situation in which both the state and the tribe could impose separate alcohol taxes on reservations.
Burgum’s selection is seen as a sign that the Trump administration will press ahead with plans to open federal land and water to oil and gas drilling. Burgum is from North Dakota, where the oil industry is one of the largest economic generators in the state.
Trump announced his choice of Burgum on Thursday evening during a gala for the America First Policy Institute at Mar-a-Lago.
The formal announcement is expected to be made on Friday.
About the Author: “Levi \”Calm Before the Storm\” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded the Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print category\/ online by the Native American Journalists Association. He is a member of the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net.
Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
