Zinke One Step Closer To Confirmation As Interior Secretary

Montana Public Radio | By Eric Whitney

Published February 27, 2017 at 6:14 PM MST

Congressman Ryan Zinke testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee January 17th

The U.S. Senate moved Congressman Ryan Zinke one step closer to becoming secretary of interior in President Trump's administration.

By a vote of 67 to 31 to 1 (one Senator voted "present") the Senate invoked "cloture," which means that debate on Zinke's nomination will end in 30 hours. After that, the Senate is free to vote on Zinke's nomination at its discretion.

Montana's Democratic Senator Jon Tester voted with the majority to end debate on Zinke's confirmation.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held hearings on Zinke's nomination in January, and at this point there appear to be no serious roadblocks to him being confirmed as secretary of interior.

CORRECTION: This web post initially reported the vote as 67 to 31, it has been updated to include the one "present" vote.