Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2023
Preceded by
Constituency reestablished
Constituency
1st district
In office January 3, 2015 – March 1, 2017
Preceded by
Steve Daines
Succeeded by
Greg Gianforte
Constituency
At-large district
52nd United States Secretary of the Interior
In office March 1, 2017 – January 2, 2019
President
Donald Trump
Deputy
David Bernhardt
Preceded by
Sally Jewell
Succeeded by
David Bernhardt
Member of the Montana Senate from the 2nd district
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by
Dan Weinberg
Succeeded by
Dee L. Brown
Personal details
Born
Ryan Keith Zinke
(1961-11-01) November 1, 1961 (age 62) Bozeman, Montana, U.S.
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Lolita Hand
(m. 1992)
Children
3
Education
University of Oregon (BS) National University (MBA) University of San Diego (MS)
Signature
Website
House website
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Branch/service
United States Navy
Years of service
1986–2008
Rank
Commander
Unit
SEAL Team Six SEAL Team One NSWU-2 Naval Special Warfare Center
Awards
Bronze Star (2) Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2) Meritorious Service Medal (4) Joint Service Commendation Medal (2) Army Commendation Medal
Ryan Zinke's voice
Zinke speaks on harassment within the U.S. Department of the Interior Recorded December 14, 2017
Ryan Keith Zinke (/ˈzɪŋki/ZING-kee; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Montana's 1st congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Zinke served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. representative for the at-large congressional district from 2015 to 2017.[1] He served as the United States secretary of the interior under president Donald Trump from 2017 until his resignation in 2019 following a series of ethical scandals.[2]
Zinke graduated from multiple colleges before he was a U.S. Navy SEAL from 1986 until 2008, retiring as a commander.[3] The first SEAL to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,[4] he formerly served as a member of the Natural Resources Committee and the Armed Services Committee.[5] As a member of Congress, Zinke supported the use of ground troops in the Middle East to combat ISIS, and opposed the Affordable Care Act, various environmental regulations, and the transfer of federal lands to individual states.
Zinke was appointed secretary of the interior by Trump. He was confirmed on March 1, 2017, becoming the first SEAL and the first Montanan since statehood to occupy a Cabinet position.[6][7]
As Secretary, Zinke opened some federal lands for oil, gas and mineral exploration and extraction.[8] His actions as interior secretary raised ethical questions and were investigated by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General.[9][10] In October 2018, the Interior's inspector general referred the investigation to the Department of Justice.[11][12] On December 15, 2018, Trump announced that Zinke would leave his post as of January 2, 2019,[13][14] to be replaced by his deputy, David Bernhardt.[15] The Inspector General's report concluded that Zinke had repeatedly violated ethical rules and then lied to investigators.[16][17] His tenure as the interior secretary was plagued by scandals, including his insistence that special flagpoles be erected so that flags could be raised or lowered when he was in residence, spending over $200,000 of taxpayer money to do so.[18]
^"Montana Legislature: Ryan Zinke". Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
^Rott, Nathan (December 15, 2018). "Ryan Zinke is Leaving the Interior Department, Trump Tweets". NPR. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
^Angel, Kristi. "Certificate of release". The Billings Gazette. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^"Donald Trump picks Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke for interior secretary". Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^"Zinke favors increasing 'uses,' boosting production of federal lands". Spokesman.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^Steele, Jeanette. "Zinke marks 1st Navy SEAL for Cabinet slot". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^Killough, Ashley; Barrett, Ted (March 1, 2017). "Senate approves Trump's nominee for Interior". CNN. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
^Turkewitz, Julie (April 16, 2018). "Ryan Zinke Is Opening Up Public Lands. Just Not at Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
^"Ryan Zinke's use of charter flights under investigation by interior department". TheGuardian.com. Associated Press. October 2, 2017. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^Cite error: The named reference GreenGoldenKnights was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Eilperin, Juliet; Dawsey, Josh; Rein, Lisa (November 1, 2018). "White House concerned Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated federal rules". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
^Lefebvre, Ben; Colman, Zack (October 30, 2018). "Zinke's heir apparent ready to step in". Politico. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
^Knickmeyer, Ellen; Brown, Matthew; Press, Jonathan Lemire | The Associated (December 15, 2018). "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigning, cites "vicious" attacks". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
^Cama, Timothy; Green, Miranda (December 15, 2018). "Interior chief Zinke to leave administration". The Hill. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
^Holden, Emily; Milman, Oliver (December 15, 2018). "Embattled interior secretary Ryan Zinke steps down after series of scandals". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
^"Ryan Zinke broke ethics rules while leading Trump's Interior Dept., watchdog finds". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
^Rein, Lisa; Phillips, Anna (August 24, 2022). "Ex-interior secretary Zinke lied to investigators in casino case, watchdog finds". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
^"Interior looked at $200k estimate to fly secretary's flag". April 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
Ryan Keith Zinke (/ˈzɪŋki/ ZING-kee; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Montana's...
Look up zinke or Zinke in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Zinke is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: Annelore Zinke (born 1958)...
chose not to do so. RyanZinke, incumbent U.S. representative Mary Todd, innkeeper and candidate for this district in 2022 RyanZinke Executive Branch officials...
of Montana (2021–present) (endorsed Sheehy, running for re-election) RyanZinke, U.S. representative from Montana's 1st congressional district (2023–present)...
Speakers have included former United States Secretary of the Interior RyanZinke. The organization also awards an annual journalism fellowship named in...
Secretary of the Interior from January 20 until March 1, 2017. Congressman RyanZinke was announced as the nominee for Secretary of the Interior on December...
members of the Trump cabinet, and specifically by Secretary of the Interior RyanZinke, to the Teapot Dome scandal. Little Green House on K Street List of federal...
became acting secretary of the interior on January 2, 2019, following RyanZinke's resignation. Bernhardt was nominated to officially become Secretary of...
at-large congressional seat to fill a vacancy created by the appointment of RyanZinke as U.S. secretary of the interior. Gianforte was convicted of misdemeanor...
Service until 2018, when he was appointed by U.S. Secretary of the Interior RyanZinke as the new Regional Director for Alaska in the Bureau of Indian Affairs...
Salazar Iowa 1: Mariannette Miller-Meeks Iowa 3: Zach Nunn Montana 1: RyanZinke Michigan 10: John James Nebraska 2: Don Bacon New Jersey 7: Thomas Kean...
for re-election in the 2nd district, this district was an open seat. RyanZinke, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former U.S. Representative...
addition to Rosendale, the Republican field included former state senators RyanZinke and Corey Stapleton, state representative Elsie Arntzen, and real estate...
Senate Tim Fox, Attorney General of Montana (running for re-election) RyanZinke, U.S. Representative (running for re-election) Greg Gianforte U.S. Senators...
far as to announce she had been chosen. Instead, Montana Congressman RyanZinke was nominated. McMorris Rodgers supported Trump's 2017 executive order...
2000 (JD & MBA), founder and CEO of StepStone Group, private equity firm RyanZinke, 2003 (MS), former United States Secretary of the Interior Jonny Kim,...
Representatives Matt Rosendale, MT-02 (2023–present) and MT-AL (2021–2023) RyanZinke, MT-01 (2023–present) and MT-AL (2015–2017) and U.S. Secretary of the...
Retrieved 25 December 2014. "Representative Ryan K. Zinke". Congress.gov. Retrieved 12 February 2017. "Trump selects Zinke as interior secretary". Politico. Retrieved...
representatives from Montana: 15 Democrats, 20 Republicans and 1 Populist. RyanZinke and Matt Rosendale are the current officeholders. United States portal...
"Cherokee Nation v. Raymond Nash, et al. and Marilyn Vann, et al. and RyanZinke, Secretary of the Interior ruling, August 30, 2017". "Judge Rules That...
Norman (R) was elected June 20, 2017. In Montana's at-large district: RyanZinke (R) resigned March 1, 2017, and Greg Gianforte (R) was elected May 25...
by the Trump administration." RyanZinke was appointed Secretary of the Interior in 2017. Following his appointment, Zinke said that he had made "probably...
congressional district had a PVI of R+7. Republican RyanZinke, who was first elected in 2014, is the incumbent. Zinke was re-elected in 2016. He faced no primary...
the Obama administration on January 20, 2017 until the swearing-in of RyanZinke on March 1, 2017. Until becoming acting secretary, Haugrud was deputy...
– Kevin Haugrud Acting January 20, 2017 March 1, 2017 Donald Trump 52 RyanZinke Montana March 1, 2017 January 2, 2019 53 David Bernhardt Colorado January...
from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2018. Nicol, Ryan (July 10, 2019). "Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast join new GOP conservation caucus"...