Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), President-elect Trump’s nominee for Interior Secretary, sat for a largely cordial hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Thursday.
While some Democratic members of the panel questioned Burgum on the incoming administration’s climate policies, the hearing lacked the acrimony earlier nominees’.
Burgum, who briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, was a high-profile Trump surrogate after exiting the race and reportedly a vice presidential contender. Trump has vowed to pursue fossil fuel industry-friendly policies and pivot away from the Biden administration’s focus on climate change, and as interior secretary, Burgum will likely take the reins for much of that policy shift.
Despite this, Burgum was largely collegial with both Democrats and Republicans on the panel Thursday, and sidestepped many of the president-elect’s most controversial positions relating to climate and the environment.
Trump has repeatedly and falsely referred to climate change as a “hoax,” a history that came up in hearings for Lee Zeldin, his nominee for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator. Burgum was not asked specifically about those remarks, but acknowledged during an exchange with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that climate change is a “global phenomenon.”
King also asked Burgum to intercede with Trump on the issue of wind power, a frequent Trump target and the possible subject of an early executive order. King noted that Burgum’s own state generates a third of its electricity through wind power and asked if Burgum could guarantee a pending project in the Gulf of Maine continues, to which Burgum responded that he would “certainly be taking a look at all of those and if it makes sense and they’re already law, they’ll continue.”
Heinrich, the top Democrat on the committee, was also largely cordial in his questioning of Burgum and said they had had “a good conversation” the previous week. However, he also emphasized the need for the next interior secretary to address climate change, saying, “As the relentless pace of climate change brings bigger floods, hotter summers, higher winds, as we’ve seen in California, and diminished snow pack, which we are experiencing in New Mexico. It’s also driving the long term aridification of the western United States.”
The closest the hearing came to a tense moment was during questioning by Sen. Maizie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who noted the ongoing impacts of climate change and asked Burgum if carrying out the energy policies in the incoming Trump administration, which the president-elect has vowed will “drill baby drill” to boost domestic oil and gas production, would include authorizing drilling for oil in Utah’s Bears Ears national monument if directed.
In response, Burgum pledged to “follow the law” and said he had had no discussions with Trump about drilling in Bears Ears. Committee Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) later called the idea of drilling in Bears Ears a “paranoid fantasy” and said there are no significant oil deposits within the monument.
The committee’s Republican majority was effusive in their praise of Burgum, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska.), who is considered a moderate within the caucus but has been a sharp critic of the Biden administration on energy policy. Murkowski noted that Alaskans frequently chafe at the Interior Department’s role as the state’s “landlord,” adding “it’s good to have conversations with you as the nominee for the Department of Interior, and knowing that you have the scope you bring to these issues.”
The wildfires that have ravaged Southern California loomed large over the hearings. Heinrich mentioned them in his opening remarks, while Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) asked Burgum whether he would commit to mobilizing the department for disaster aid regardless of where it occurred, to which Burgum responded “absolutely.” Padilla’s question comes as multiple Republican lawmakers, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have backed attaching conditions to any fire aid to California.
Burgum’s testimony comes late in a whirlwind week of hearings for Trump nominees ahead of the president-elect’s inauguration Monday. Zeldin testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday morning, while fracking CEO Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for energy secretary, had his hearing Wednesday.
None of the three are expected to face major roadblocks to confirmation in the GOP-majority Senate, although Wright faced tough questioning Wednesday from Padilla and Hirono on his history of downplaying climate change.
Outside of the hearing room, however, conservation groups announced their opposition to Burgum’s nomination.
“Today’s hearing confirms that Burgum is committed to more drilling and pipelines, no matter the cost to local communities, consumers, and the environment,” League of Conservation Voters Conservation Program Director America Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
