SPOKANE — U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says she was never offered the job of Interior secretary by President-elect Donald Trump.
The Republican lawmaker from eastern Washington state told The Spokesman-Review in a story on Friday that when her name started circulating as Trump’s pick for the job it was completely unexpected.
“My colleagues were coming up and congratulating me on the floor” of the House when the first reports surfaced, McMorris Rodgers said. “I said, ‘There has not been an offer.”’
She said that in a meeting with Trump earlier this month they talked about better management of federal lands, expanding recreation access and creating partnerships with states and tribes.
“He wanted to know what steps we could be taking,” she said. “He’s very interested in more access on federal lands.”
They also talked about jobs and the economy.
“When you spend time with the president-elect, it is rapid fire,” McMorris Rodgers said.
Trump on Thursday selected Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary. Zinke has advocated for increased drilling and mining on public lands and has expressed skepticism about the urgency of climate change.
McMorris Rodgers wasn’t one of Trump’s early supporters, and condemned remarks Trump made about women. But she voted for him in the state’s presidential primary.
“I made it clear that I supported him throughout the campaign and that I continue to support him,” she said Friday. “When candidate Donald Trump said things that I didn’t necessarily agree with, I would call him on it.”
After initial reports, though wrong, that McMorris Rodgers would become Interior secretary, three Republicans and a Democrat announced plans to run for her congressional seat.
“It’s great that there’s such a strong bench,” McMorris Rodgers said.
