Washington Congresswoman To Lead Interior Department: Reports

SEATTLE, WA - Multiple news outlets are reporting that president-elect Donald Trump will nominate U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Spokane, to be secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior under his administration.

McMorris-Rodgers is the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the House and has represented Eastern Washington in Congress since 2005. As interior secretary, McMorris-Rodgers would oversee an agency that includes the Bureau of Land Management, the National Parks Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Environmental groups reacted negatively to the news Friday, saying that McMorris-Rodgers would be a proponent of opening up public land to private industry.

"McMorris Rodgers has been part of the Republican leadership of the most anti-environmental House of Representatives in history, and she has an abysmal 4 percent lifetime score on [League of Conservation Voters'] National Environmental Scorecard," League President Gene Karpinski told USA Today. "She simply should not be put in charge of stewarding America’s wildlife, national parks and other majestic landscapes."

If McMorris-Rodgers becomes interior secretary, she'll be the second consecutive secretary from Washington. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell is the former CEO of Seattle-based REI, and a graduate of the University of Washington.

The Wall Street Journal originally reported the news of McMorris-Rodgers as Trump's interior secretary pick.

Image via Cathy McMorris-Rodgers