Trump Nominee Withdraws After Jan. 6 Remarks Emerge

President Trump's nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management was announced Thursday at the start of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the AP reports.

• David Bernhardt, who served as interior secretary in Trump's first term, said in a post on X that Sgamma's withdrawal was "self-inflicted" and included a link to a website that posted her 2021 comments. Bernhardt suggested that people whose views don't align with Trump's should not seek political appointments in his administration.

• "I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump's role in spreading misinformation that incited it," Sgamma said in the memo to Western Energy Alliance members earlier reported by Documented, which describes itself as a watchdog journalism project.
• The longtime oil and gas industry representative appeared well-poised to carry out Trump's plans to roll back restrictions on energy development, including in Western states where the land bureau has vast holdings. The agency also oversees mining, grazing, and recreation.
• Sgamma was president of the Western Energy Alliance for almost 20 years before she stepped down this year. During that time, she "opposed virtually every policy aimed at addressing climate change, conserving public lands, and protecting biodiversity," the New York Times reports. Environmental activists said they were relieved by her withdrawal, though they doubt that Trump's next nominee will have different priorities.
• Sgamma's withdrawal underscored the Trump administration's creation of a "loyalty test" to weed out subordinates who are out of step with him, said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the left-leaning Center for Western Priorities. "That's the world we're in—if that's what happened—where being sane and acknowledging reality with the White House is enough to sink a nomination," he said.
• The Bureau of Land Management plays a central role in a long-running debate over the best use of government-owned lands, and its policies have swung sharply as control of the White House has shifted between Republicans and Democrats.

(More Bureau of Land Management stories.)