David L. Bernhardt

David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the 53rd United States secretary of the interior from 2019 to 2021 in the administration of Donald Trump. He previously was a shareholder at the Colorado law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck,

President Donald Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the deputy secretary of the interior in April 2017. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 24, 2017, and sworn into office on August 1. He became acting secretary of the interior on January 2, 2019, following Ryan Zinke's resignation. Bernhardt was nominated to officially become Secretary of the Interior in February 2019 and was confirmed on April 11, 2019.

Early life and education Bernhardt grew up in Rifle, Colorado. In 1998 he became an associate with Brownstein Hyatt and Farber, a Denver law and lobbying firm. He was the DOI deputy solicitor at the time.

Legal work and lobbying work In 2009, he rejoined the Colorado-based law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Bernhardt's clients included Westlands Water District, Halliburton, Cobalt International Energy, Samson Resources, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Through Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Bernhardt represented entities such as the proposed Rosemont Copper open pit mine in Arizona. He resigned prior to January 2017.

Trump administration DOI transition team Until the end of 2016, Bernhardt remained an attorney and lobbyist for the Westlands Water District. In November 2016, he de-listed himself as a lobbyist in order to comply with the new president's ban on lobbyists joining his administration. While remaining a lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck, after November 2016 Bernhardt was briefly in charge of the Interior Department transition team for President Donald Trump.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior

On April 28, 2017, Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the deputy secretary of the interior. The role made Bernhardt the "top deputy to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and COO of the federal lands and energy agency". The appointment was praised by Zinke, and former-interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne, fishing groups, Ethics issues were raised by Senators such as Maria Cantwell, with Bernhardt replying he took ethics very seriously. He said that unless he received authorization to do so, he would not involve himself substantially in any particular matter involving his former clients.

On July 24, 2017, the Senate confirmed Bernhardt's nomination by a vote of 53–43. He was then sworn into office on August 1, 2017.

In 2019, Politico reported that heads of the oil industry lobbying group Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) celebrated their ties to Bernhardt, who had IPAA as a client during his legal career.

Secretary of the Interior

On January 2, 2019, Bernhardt became acting secretary of the interior, replacing Ryan Zinke.

In May 2019, the House Oversight Committee investigated whether Bernhardt was complying with record-keeping laws.

In September 2019, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report finding that Bernhardt, then acting secretary, had twice violated federal law when in January 2019 he directed the National Park Service to use park entrance fees for maintenance in keeping parks open during the government shutdown. The GAO report concluded that the Interior Department moved funds between accounts without authorization from Congress in violation of the Antideficiency Act and federal appropriations law.

In May 2020, two activist groups sued over Bernhardt's ongoing interim appointments of William Perry Pendley to run the Bureau of Land Management and David Vela to lead the National Park Service, appointments that bypassed a Senate confirmation process.

On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump. Bernhardt announced that August 4 would be designated "Great American Outdoors Day" and that each year on that day entrance to national parks would be free.

Bernhardt relocated the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management from Washington, D.C., to Grand Junction, Colorado, on August 11, 2020.

Bernhardt on August 17, 2020, announced plans for an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for drilling in the remote Alaskan area.

On August 20, 2020, Bernhardt designated the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot for inclusion in the National Park Service's African American Civil Rights Network. It is the 30th site to achieve such a designation, which includes sites associated with the civil rights movement in the United States, such as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama and the Pullman National Monument in Chicago.

On September 11, 2020, Bernhardt introduced Trump at the Flight 93 Memorial.

Post-government career After leaving the Department of the Interior, Bernhardt rejoined his former law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck as a senior counsel. Bernhardt is the chairman of the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Freedom. In November of 2024, the New York Times reported that Bernhardt was involved in the Trump Vance presidential transition. In 2023, he published You Report to Me. Accountability for the Failing Administrative State (Encounter Books, 2023). The book relates his experience serving in various capacities in the U.S. Department of Interior, including as Secretary in the first term of President Donald Trump.

Personal life He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife Gena. Bernhardt is a hunter and angler.