{"id":36784,"date":"2018-12-15T16:34:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T16:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/15\/trump-says-scandal-plagued-navy-seal-veteran-zinke-will-step-down\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:46:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:46:35","slug":"trump-says-scandal-plagued-navy-seal-veteran-zinke-will-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2018\/12\/15\/trump-says-scandal-plagued-navy-seal-veteran-zinke-will-step-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says scandal-plagued Navy SEAL veteran Zinke will step down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Interior Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2016\/12\/14\/sources-trump-offers-montana-s-zinke-interior-secretary\/\" target=_blank>Ryan Zinke<\/a>, who is facing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/federal-oversight\/watchdogs\/2017\/11\/17\/interior-watchdog-faults-zinke-for-incomplete-travel-records\/\" target=_blank>federal investigations<\/a> into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest, will leave the administration at year\u2019s end, President Donald Trump said Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump, in tweeting Zinke&#8217;s departure, said the former Montana congressman &#8220;accomplished much during his tenure&#8221; and that a replacement would be announced next week. The Cabinet post requires Senate confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zinke is leaving weeks before Democrats take control of the House, a shift in power that promised to intensify probes into his conduct. His departure comes amid a staff shake-up as Trump heads into his third year in office. The president on Friday named White House budget director Mick Mulvaney as his next chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/12\/20\/report-interior-secretary-nominee-former-seal-committed-travel-fraud\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ryan-zinke.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Report: Interior secretary nominee, former SEAL committed travel fraud<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Intercept reports that Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont, committed travel fraud while assigned to SEAL Team 6.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zinke, 57, played a leading part in Trump\u2019s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/govcon\/regulations\/2017\/08\/24\/us-interior-chief-says-he-wont-eliminate-protected-lands\/\" target=_blank>roll back environmental regulations<\/a> and promote domestic energy development. When he recently traveling to survey damage from California\u2019s wildfires, Zinke echoed Trump claims that lax forest management was to blame in the devastation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He pushed to develop oil, natural gas and coal beneath public lands in line with the administration\u2019s business-friendly aims. But Zinke has been dogged by ethics probes, including one centered on a Montana land deal involving a foundation he created and the chairman of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/federal-oversight\/congress\/2017\/10\/25\/lawmakers-seek-probe-of-power-contract-to-zinke-neighbor\/\" target=_blank>an energy services company<\/a> that does business with the Interior Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investigators also are reviewing Zinke&#8217;s decision to block two tribes from opening a casino in Connecticut and his redrawing of boundaries to shrink a Utah national monument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zinke has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Associated Press reported last month that the department&#8217;s internal watchdog had referred an investigation of Zinke to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/federal-oversight\/watchdogs\/2017\/12\/08\/interior-chief-spent-more-than-53k-on-3-helicopter-trips\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">Interior chief spent more than $53K on 3 helicopter trips<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump told reporters this fall he was evaluating Zinke\u2019s future in the administration in light of the allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked by reporters last month whether he might fire Zinke, Trump said, &#8220;No, I&#8217;m going to look into any complaints.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zinke in November denied he already was hunting for his next job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I enjoy working for the president,&#8221; he told a Montana radio station. &#8220;Now, If you do your job, he supports you.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think I&#8217;m probably going to be the commander of space command,&#8221; Zinke said. &#8220;How&#8217;s that one?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zinke had a memorable administration debut when he rode a bay roan gelding to his first day of work in March 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ryan Zinke is leaving weeks before Democrats take control of the House, a shift in power that promised to intensify probes into his conduct. He denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":70299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[101,23,88,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8234],"class_list":["post-36784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"5F5ALGYC5FHJJCZNGQ4GKQBKCM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/12\/15\/trump-says-scandal-plagued-navy-seal-veteran-zinke-will-step-down\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump says scandal-plagued Navy SEAL veteran Zinke will step down - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ryan Zinke is leaving weeks before Democrats take control of the House, a shift in power that promised to intensify probes into his conduct. 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