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 natura ...

from 2019 to 2021 during the presidency of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. 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 Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

law firm

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck 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 ...

, where he was an oil and energy industry lobbyist and natural resources attorney. He began working for the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

(DOI) in 2001, and served as the department's solicitor from 2006 to 2009, among other roles. President

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 Ryan Keith Zinke (; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman. Zinke, a member of the Republican Party, served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional d ...

'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 Rifle is a home rule municipality in and the most populous community of Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 10,437 at the 2020 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle ranching industry located along Interstate ...

. His father was a county extension agent and his mother was in the real estate business. Bernhardt was active in

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 vi ...

s at a teen center he was starting in his hometown. He left high school early, earning his GED, then his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

from the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

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 tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. 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 co ...

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-pro ...

later that year.

Career

Early career

Bernhardt began his career as a lawyer in Colorado. In the 1990s, he worked for U.S. Representative

Scott McInnis Stephen Scott Emory McInnis McInnis is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and is an honorary adviser for the National Student Leadership Conference. Political career Colorado House of Representatives From 1983 to 19 ...

, a Grand Junction

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. 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 Brow ...

, a

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

law and

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, whic ...

firm.

George W. Bush administration

Bernhardt worked for the Department of the Interior during George W. Bush'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 An ...

Gale Norton Gale Ann Norton (born March 11, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 48th United States Secretary of the Interior under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006. A member of the Republican Party, she previously serve ...

. 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. President George W. Bush 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

. 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 Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest oil field service company. It has operations in more than 70 countries ...

Cobalt International Energy Cobalt International Energy, Inc. is a development stage petroleum exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Cobalt International Energy Inc. filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2017. Current operations The company has ...

, Samson Resources, and the

Independent Petroleum Association of America The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is a lobbying group for oil and gas producers in the United States. Overview It was founded on June 10, 1929, by President Herbert Hoover. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2019, ''P ...

. Through Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Berhardt represented entities such as the proposed

Rosemont Copper Rosemont Copper is a proposed large 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 of southern Arizona. ...

open pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. 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 The Virginia Board of Wildlife Resources (formerly the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries) oversees the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Membership The Code of Virginia provides that "the Board shall consist of not more than one mem ...

, 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

. In that role, he was in charge of overseeing staffing in the Department of the Interior along with

Devin Nunes Devin Gerald Nunes (; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was ...

. Until resigning by early 2017, he was on the board of the Center for Environmental Science Accuracy and Reliability.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior

David Bernhardt official photo (cropped)

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

and COO of the federal lands and energy agency". The appointment was praised by Zinke, Republican members of Congress, and former-interior secretary

Dirk Kempthorne Dirk Arthur Kempthorne (born October 29, 1951) is an American politician who served as the 49th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a ...

, as well as Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable,

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

, and the Boone and Crocket Club. 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 ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

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 in ...

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 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 Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washingto ...

, 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

. 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 The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...

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 gover ...

(GAO) released a report finding that Bernhardt, then acting secretary, had twice violated federal lawKurt 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 The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

to use park entrance fees for maintenance in keeping parks open during the

government shutdown A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government. Government shutdowns in the Un ...

. 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 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, conservative activist, political commentator, and government official who served as the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management from 2019 to 2021. Pendley was appointed by Interior Secreta ...

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 ...

and

David Vela Raymond David Vela is a parks administrator who is the former acting director of the United States National Park Service. Early life and education Vela grew up in Wharton, Texas. At a Senate hearing, he described himself as the oldest grandchi ...

to lead the

, appointments that bypassed a Senate confirmation process. On August 4, 2020, the

Great American Outdoors Act The Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957) is a piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress, signed by President Donald J. Trump, and activated into Public Law (Public Law No. 116-152) in 2020. It has two major components: fully an ...

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,

, on August 11, 2020. Bernhardt on August 17, 2020, announced plans for an oil and gas leasing program in the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...

, 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 The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

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 Some ...

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's Center for American Freedom.

Personal life

He lives in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, with his wife Gena and two children. Bernhardt is a hunter and angler.

References

External links

* *
David Bernhardt's Biography
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

, - , - {{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