Reports that President-elect Trump has offered the position of secretary of the Interior to Montana’s Republican Rep.-at-large Ryan Zinke would mean a major shakeup in Montana politics.
A special election would have to be held to fill the seat Zinke would relinquish after two years to take the Cabinet post.
Moreover, with Zinke long expected to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Testor in 2018, Montana Republicans might be forced to scramble to find a new Senate candidate if the former Navy SEAL and House Member becomes Interior secretary.
The same press reports of Zinke’s pending appointment also said that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA.), the senior lawmaker considered a cinch for the Interior slot on Monday, had opted to remain in the House.
"It was an honor to be invited to spend time with the President-elect," McMorris Rodgers tweeted late Tuesday, "and I'm energized more than ever to continue leading in Congress as we think big, reimagine this government and put people back at the center of it."
As Newsmax reported on Monday, so certain was the appointment of McMorris Rodgers to the Interior secretaryship that maneuvering had already begun for her position in the House as Republican Conference chairman.
Two-term GOP Reps. Mimi Walters (Calif.) and Susan Brooks (Ind.) both made it clear they were running to succeed McMorris Rodgers in the Number Three position in the House GOP hierarchy. A third Republican lawmaker, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kan.), was telling colleagues late Monday that she, too, would be a candidate for the post of conference chairman that was expected to be open with McMorris Rodgers' tapping by Trump.
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