Doug Burgum, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to helm the Interior Department and lead a newly formed National Energy Council, earned more than $2 million last year from family businesses and a host of investments in real estate, technology and software companies.
The Interior nominee and former North Dakota governor disclosed his finances ahead of a Thursday confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Office of Government Ethics posted Burgum’s financial disclosure report and his ethics agreement online Wednesday. The move offers a look at the income taken in by the wealthy former software entrepreneur, who has become a central player in the energy politics of Trump 2.0.
Burgum’s ethics and financial docs could help clear partisan tensions ahead of the hearing. Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) had postponed the hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday, after Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the panel’s ranking member, accused Republicans of breaking protocol by holding confirmations before ethics and financial paperwork had been processed.
