'Holy cow'! Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke goes nuclear after Dem Rep. Raúl Grijalva calls for his resignation

Sarah D | 12:34 PM on November 30, 2018

In a recent op-ed, Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva called for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke “to resign immediately”:

I take no pleasure in calling for this step, and I have resisted it even as questions have grown about Mr. Zinke’s ethical and managerial failings. Unfortunately, his conduct in office and President Donald Trump’s neglect in setting ethical standards for his own cabinet have made it unavoidable.

While the secretary continues to project confidence, questions have grown since the election about his future plans, and the White House reportedly fears that he would be unable to withstand scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Those fears are justified. Mr. Zinke has never even tried to offer an explanation for the sheer scope of his well-documented scandals.

This silence is insulting to the American people, and given the Nov. 6 election results it is unsustainable. Continuing in office as though nothing has changed only shows how little Mr. Zinke has learned over the past year and a half. He holds his job as a public trust, not as a stepping stone to his further personal ambitions. He has abused that trust and damaged the Interior Department in the process. The least he can do is step down and give his successor a chance to begin reversing that damage.

Unsurprisingly, Zinke is pretty pissed at Grijalva. But his approach is, um, interesting:

.@RepRaulGrijalva, who will likely chair the House Natural Resources Committee, called in an oped for Zinke to resign because of "ethical and managerial failings." https://t.co/Mr2LHftNNQ

Zinke's response: https://t.co/rFY0jnGuSs

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 30, 2018

Grijalva long ago acknowledged a problem with alcohol. Zinke's language — "it's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle" — is the opposite of how, say, the president's Opioid Commission would suggest those with dependency issues be addressed.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 30, 2018

Maybe … but it’s pretty much in line with how the president would approach this sort of thing.

Editor’s note: The headline of this post has been amended to include Ryan Zinke’s name.