David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...
from 2019 to 2021 during the presidency of
Donald Trump. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the deputy secretary of the interior. Before serving in the Trump administration, he was a shareholder at the
Colorado law firm
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck,
where he was an oil and energy industry lobbyist and natural resources attorney. He began working for the
United States Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2001,
and served as the department's solicitor from 2006 to 2009, among other roles.
President
Donald Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the
deputy secretary of the interior in April 2017.
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 24, 2017, and sworn into office on August 1.
He became acting secretary of the interior on January 2, 2019, following
Ryan Zinke's resignation.
Bernhardt was nominated to officially become Secretary of the Interior in February 2019
and was confirmed on April 11, 2019.
Early life and education
Bernhardt grew up in
Rifle, Colorado.
His father was a county extension agent and his mother was in the real estate business.
Bernhardt was active in
Colorado politics from the age of sixteen, when he made his case to the
Rifle City Council not to levy taxes on
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
s at a
teen center A teen center is a community center serving adolescents in a community. It may provide services for at-risk teens, help to meet their health needs, serve to discourage anti-social behavior
Antisocial behavior is a behavior that is defined a ...
he was starting in his hometown.
He left high school early, earning his
GED, then his
bachelor's degree from the
University of Northern Colorado in 1990.
While at the University of Northern Colorado, he applied for and received an internship at the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
He graduated with honors from the
George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...
in 1994.
He was admitted to the
Colorado Bar Association
The Colorado State Bar Association (CBA), founded in 1897, is a voluntary bar association for the state of Colorado. There are 26 local bars within the organization. The CBA works for the common interests of attorneys and judges and is a non-prof ...
later that year.
Career
Early career
Bernhardt began his career as a lawyer in Colorado. In the 1990s, he worked for
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Scott McInnis, a
Grand Junction Republican.
In 1998 he became an associate with
Brownstein Hyatt and Farber
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP is a lobbying and law firm based in the United States with 250 attorneys and policy consultants in 13 offices across the western U.S. and in Washington, D.C.
History
The firm was founded in 1968 by Norman Bro ...
, a
Denver law and
lobbying firm.
George W. Bush administration
Bernhardt worked for the Department of the Interior during
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's presidency.
Early in his career with the DOI, he was deputy
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
and counselor
to then-
secretary of the interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to:
* Secretary of the Interior (Mexico)
* Interior Secretary of Pakistan
* Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines)
* United States Secretary of the Interior
See also
*Interior ministry ...
Gale Norton.
He also served early on at the DOI as director of congressional and legislative affairs. Later he was confirmed and served as the solicitor at the DOI.
He was also the United States commissioner to the
International Boundary Commission, U.S. and
Canada.
President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
nominated Bernhardt to serve as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior in November 2005, subject to Senate confirmation. He was the DOI deputy solicitor at the time.
Bernhardt was sworn into office in November 2006,
after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He served as Solicitor from 2006 to January, 2009.
Legal work and lobbying work
In 2009, he rejoined the Colorado-based law firm
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
He became a shareholder in the firm
and chairman
of the firm's natural resources law practice.
Bernhardt's clients included Westlands Water District,
Halliburton,
Cobalt International Energy, Samson Resources, and the
Independent Petroleum Association of America.
Through Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Berhardt represented entities such as the proposed
Rosemont Copper
Rosemont Copper is a proposed large open pit mine, open pit copper mine project by the Canadian mining corporation Hudbay Minerals. The project site is located within the Santa Rita Mountains and Coronado National Forest, in Pima County, Arizona ...
open pit mine in
Arizona.
In 2011, Bernhardt filed a lawsuit for the Westlands Water District that "sought to force the feds to make good on a commitment to build a multibillion-dollar system to dispose of the poisoned water" resulting from toxic irrigation in the Westlands district.
He was previously a member of the
Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries,
and chairman of its Finance, Audit, & Compliance Committee. He resigned prior to January 2017.
Trump administration
DOI transition team
Until the end of 2016, Bernhardt remained an attorney and lobbyist for the Westlands Water District.
In November 2016, he de-listed himself as a lobbyist in order to comply with the new president's ban on lobbyists joining his administration.
After withdrawing his formal registration as a lobbyist, Bernhardt became a consultant to the Westlands Water District for a $20,000 per month retainer. While remaining a lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck, after November 2016 Bernhardt was briefly in charge of the Interior Department transition team for President
Donald Trump.
In that role, he was in charge of overseeing staffing in the Department of the Interior along with
Devin Nunes.
Until resigning by early 2017, he was on the board of the Center for Environmental Science Accuracy and Reliability.
Deputy Secretary of the Interior
On April 28, 2017, Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the deputy secretary of the interior.
The role made Bernhardt the "top deputy to Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke and
COO
COO or coo may refer to:
Business
* Certificate of origin, used in international trade
* Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official
* Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process
...
of the federal lands and energy agency".
The appointment was praised by Zinke,
Republican members of Congress,
and former-interior secretary
Dirk Kempthorne,
as well as Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable,
Ducks Unlimited, and the
Boone and Crocket Club
The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat Conservation movement, conservation organization, fou ...
.
His nomination was strongly opposed by
conservationists
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the f ...
,
fishing groups,
and California Democrats,
who cited his history of representing and lobbying on behalf of oil companies and agricultural interests
as well as
conflict-of-interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
concerns arising from his firm's work on regulation issues with the DOI.
At his confirmation hearing before the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recla ...
in mid-May 2017,
Bernhardt testified that he would "apply the law and be honest with the science" at the Interior Department
but also said the president's views, rather than the recommendations of climate scientists, would guide the Interior Department's policies whenever possible.
Ethics issues were raised by Senators such as
Maria Cantwell, with Bernhardt replying he took ethics very seriously. He said that unless he received authorization to do so, he would not involve himself substantially in any particular matter involving his former clients.
On July 24, 2017, the Senate confirmed Bernhardt's nomination by a vote of 53–43. He was then sworn into office on August 1, 2017.
During Bernhardt's tenure as deputy secretary and acting secretary the Department of the Interior substantially increased fossil fuel sales on public land and embarked on a program of deregulation.
In 2019, ''Politico'' reported that heads of the oil industry lobbying group Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) celebrated their ties to Bernhardt, who had IPAA as a client during his legal career.
In April 2019, eight Democratic Senators and four government watchdog groups requested that the inspector general of the Interior Department launch an investigation into Bernhardt. In August 2020, the Interior Department's inspector general released a report concluding that the agency had withheld sensitive public documents related to Bernhardt prior to his Senate confirmation and that this action did not violate any legal or ethical standards.
Secretary of the Interior
On January 2, 2019, Bernhardt became acting secretary of the interior, replacing
Ryan Zinke.
On February 4, 2019, Trump nominated Bernhardt to be Secretary of the Interior.
He was confirmed by the Senate on April 11, 2019, by a vote of 56 to 41.
In May 2019, the
House Oversight Committee investigated whether Bernhardt was complying with record-keeping laws.
In September 2019, the
Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
(GAO) released a report finding that Bernhardt, then acting secretary, had twice violated federal law
[Kurt Repanshek]
GAO Rules Interior Violated Law By Shifting Funds To Keep Parks Open During Shutdown
''National Parks Traveler'' (September 8, 2019). when in January 2019 he directed the
National Park Service to use park entrance fees for maintenance in keeping parks open during the
government shutdown.
The GAO report concluded that the
Interior Department moved funds between accounts without authorization from Congress in violation of the
Antideficiency Act
The Antideficiency Act (ADA) () is legislation enacted by the United States Congress to prevent the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of amounts available in appropriations or funds. The law was initially e ...
and federal appropriations law.
[ The Interior Department rejected the GAO's conclusion that any laws were violated, and maintained that the directive was an "appropriate and lawful use of Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act funds."][
Bernhardt was chosen as the ]designated survivor
In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pres ...
during Trump's 2020 State of the Union Address
The 2020 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, on February 4, 2020, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congres ...
.
In May 2020, two activist groups sued over Bernhardt's ongoing interim appointments of William Perry Pendley
William Perry Pendley is an American attorney, Conservatism in the United States, conservative activist, political commentator, and government official who served as the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management from 2019 to 2021.
Pendley ...
to run the Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
and David Vela to lead the National Park Service, appointments that bypassed a Senate confirmation process.
On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump. Bernhardt announced that August 4 would be designated "Great American Outdoors Day" and that each year on that day entrance to national parks would be free.
Bernhardt relocated the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colorado, on August 11, 2020.
Bernhardt on August 17, 2020, announced plans for an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for drilling in the remote Alaskan area.
On August 20, 2020, Bernhardt designated the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot for inclusion in the National Park Service's African American Civil Rights Network. It is the 30th site to achieve such a designation, which includes sites associated with the civil rights movement in the United States, such as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama and the Pullman National Monument in Chicago.
On September 11, 2020, Bernhardt introduced Trump at the Flight 93 Memorial
The Flight 93 National Memorial is a memorial built to commemorate the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was one of four aircraft hijacked during the September 11 attacks in 2001. The memorial is located in Stonycreek Township in Somer ...
.
Post-government career
After leaving the Department of the Interior, Bernhardt rejoined his former law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck as a senior counsel. He also joined the advisory board of Advancing American Freedom, a political advocacy group founded by Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
. Bernhardt is the chairman of the America First Policy Institute
The America First Policies Institute (AFPI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) think tank that was founded in 2021 to promote former U.S. President Donald Trump's public policy agenda. The organization was founded by Brooke Rollins, who serves as preside ...
's Center for American Freedom.
Personal life
He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife Gena and two children. Bernhardt is a hunter and angler.
See also
* Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration
References
External links
*
*
David Bernhardt's Biography
at Vote Smart
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhardt, David L.
1969 births
Living people
People from Garfield County, Colorado
Colorado Republicans
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Deputy Secretaries of the Interior
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Solicitors of the United States Department of the Interior
University of Northern Colorado alumni
George Washington University Law School alumni