Susan Combs

Susan Combs (born February 26, 1945) is an American politician, having served elected office in Texas and as the assistant secretary of policy, management and budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Donald Trump.

A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2007 to 2015 as the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Prior to her tenure as comptroller, Combs had served two terms as commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007, taking the reins as the first woman elected to that office in 1998. Combs also served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

Early life and family Combs was born in San Antonio. She grew up in a ranching family in West Texas. She runs a cow-calf operation on her family's ranch in Brewster County; the ranch has been in her family since the turn of the 20th century. She lives in Austin with her husband, Joe W. Duran, a computer scientist. She is the mother of three sons. In the general election, Combs handily defeated the Democrat Jimmy Day, 45,355 (65.4 percent) to 23,987 (34.6 percent). Combs served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993 and 1996, resigning midway in her second term to join the staff of U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the lawmaker's state director. She was succeeded by fellow Republican Patty Keel of Austin.

Texas agriculture commissioner Combs served as the Texas agriculture commissioner from 1999 to 2007, being the first woman to serve in the position. She succeeded Rick Perry as commissioner, who was instead elected as lieutenant governor.

As agriculture commissioner, Combs worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to protect the golden-cheeked warbler. In partnership with Combs and the Texas Department of Agriculture and a coalition of other organizations, Environmental Defense Fund coordinated the development of a market-based credit exchange.

In 2015, Combs endorsed Carly Fiorina for president.

Assistant secretary of the interior On July 10, 2017, U.S. president Donald Trump nominated Combs to be the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget at the United States Department of the Interior. Earlier in the year, Trump had considered naming Combs to be the secretary of agriculture, a position which went instead to Sonny Perdue, a former governor of Georgia. Her nomination to be the assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget was approved on a party-line vote in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. However, the full Senate did not take up her nomination and sent it back to the White House at the end of 2017. In 2018, the Trump administration re-nominated Combs to the same position. More than 70 conservation organizations sent a letter to the Senate opposing her nomination. She was confirmed by the United States Senate with a vote of 57–36 on June 5, 2019. On April 13, 2020, Combs submitted her resignation, which went into effect on April 25, 2020.

Other activities Combs served on the boards of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Fort Worth and the Texas Wildlife Association. She has also served on the boards of the Texas Beef Council and the Texas Production Credit Association.

After leaving state politics in 2015, Combs launched the Texas Smart Schools Initiative, intended for parents and officials as a data-driven approach to show which public schools and districts are achieving the highest student performance for the lowest cost. The material, arranged on a five-star scale, was made available without charge. It is funded from her leftover campaign contributions. Also with leftover campaign cash, Combs formed a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called the Anywhere Woman Project, an online platform aiming to help women ask questions and exchange ideas. HERdacity's goal is to help women have the "audacity" to seek their own paths. In addition, she wrote a memoir entitled Texas Tenacity Her book Perfect Match caused political controversy.

As a member of the Texas House of Representatives in the 1990s, Combs championed legislation prohibiting state wildlife officials from gathering endangered species data from private lands without permission, according to the Austin Chronicle. It also sought to restrict the state from sharing endangered species data with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In August 2019, the Women's Suffrage Celebration Commission elevated Combs to chairwoman. Prior to that, Combs was a Commission member, appointed to that position in December 2018.

Awards At the December 2, 2014, meeting of the Texas Interagency Task Force on Economic Growth and Endangered Species, Dr. Benjamin Tuggle presented Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller and Chair of the Task Force, with a plaque in recognition of her efforts to promote conservation in the State of Texas and the Southwest Region. Dr. Tuggle thanked the Comptroller for her dedication and commitment to expanding species research efforts and supporting on the ground conservation efforts in the State of Texas. He praised the Comptroller for her ability to bring together diverse stakeholder groups to tackle difficult conservation issues for a number of species including the dunes sagebrush lizard, the lesser prairie-chicken and the golden-cheeked warbler. Her willingness to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service on challenging issues benefited both the wildlife in Texas as well as the State's landowners and economy.