Montana congressman chosen to lead Interior Department

President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly selected Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., as his nominee for interior secretary. Zinke, 55, supported Trump early in the presidential campaign and even expressed his interest in a cabinet post. Energy development, land management, and hunting fall under the Interior Department’s jurisdiction, and all of those are hot issues in Zinke’s home state. The federal government controls almost one-third of the land in Montana. Zinke has advocated for increased energy drilling and mining on those lands. He spent 23 years as a Navy SEAL and received two Bronze Stars for combat missions in Iraq. Zinke is in his first term in Congress and serves on the House Natural Resources and Armed Services committees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.