Fri., Dec. 9, 2016

McMorris Rodgers expected to be Trump’s Interior secretary

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., shake hands as she leaves the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, in Bedminster, N.J. (Carolyn Kaster / AP)

PUBLIC LANDS -- Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is expected to be named Interior secretary by President-elect Donald Trump, the New York Times reported.

McMorris Rodgers, elected to a seventh term last month, has been mentioned as a possible Interior Department secretary after she met with President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 20 in New Jersey.

If confirmed by the Senate, McMorris Rodgers would lead the 70,000-employee, $12 billion Interior Department, which manages federal lands for both preservation and energy and mineral development, controls offshore drilling.

She would oversee about 75 percent of the country's federal public land including national parks, BLM lands and national wildlife refuges. She would be administering programs relating to Native American, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and insular areas of the United States.

She would be Trump’s point person on public lands energy development, something Trump said he wants to expand as president

Here's more from the Associated Press:

Politico reported Thursday that some House Republicans have been jockeying for her position as the House Republican Conference chairwoman based on rumors that she would be selected by Trump.

If she gets the nod, McMorris Rodgers’ seat representing Eastern Washington would be filled in a special election in the spring or summer or in the next year’s general election in November.

Here's a report from The Hill.

Posted Dec. 9, 2016, 9:04 a.m.