Trump Is Said to Offer Interior Job to Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana

President-elect Donald J. Trump has offered the position of interior secretary to Representative Ryan Zinke, Republican of Montana and a former Navy SEAL commander, according to two officials familiar with Mr. Trump’s decision.

As head of the agency that oversees energy exploration on the nation’s public lands and waters, Mr. Zinke would be charged with carrying out the aggressive pro-drilling agenda championed by Mr. Trump on the campaign trail.

That would represent a sharp reversal of the role of the Interior Department under President Obama, who used the agency to advance his climate change, clean energy and land conservation agenda. Under Mr. Obama’s interior secretary, Sally Jewell, the department put forth plans to block oil and gas drilling on vast stretches of public land and water; freeze new leases of coal mining on public lands; and promote the development of renewable energy on federal property.

Mr. Zinke, re-elected in November to his second House term, would have the authority to reverse most of those initiatives, although some changes could take as long as three or four years to be put in effect.

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