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United States Secretary of the Interior

Head of the United States Department of the Interior


Head of the United States Department of the Interior

FieldValue
postUnited States Secretary
bodythe Interior
flagFlag of the United States Secretary of the Interior.svg
flagborderyes
flagsize130
flagcaptionFlag of the secretary
insigniaSeal of the United States Department of the Interior.svg
insigniasize120
insigniacaptionSeal of the Department of the Interior
imageDoug Burgum 2025 DOI cropped portrait.jpg
incumbentDoug Burgum
incumbentsinceFebruary 1, 2025
actingno
departmentUnited States Department of the Interior
styleMr. Secretary (informal)
The Honorable (formal)
member_ofCabinet
reports_toPresident of the United States
seatWashington, D.C.
appointerThe president
appointer_qualifiedwith Senate advice and consent
termlengthNo fixed term
constituting_instrument
formation
firstThomas Ewing
successionEighth
deputyUnited States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
salaryExecutive Schedule, Level I
website

The Honorable (formal)

The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural resources, leading such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service. The secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation Board. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet and reports to the president of the United States. The function of the U.S. Department of the Interior is different from that of the interior minister designated in many other countries.

As the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the Western United States, the secretary of the interior has typically come from a western state; only one secretary since 1949, Rogers Morton, was not a resident or native of a state lying west of the Mississippi River.

Secretary of the Interior is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$246,400, as of January 2024. | access-date = 2024-06-13}}

The current interior secretary is Doug Burgum, who was sworn in on February 1, 2025.

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of the interior is as follows:

  1. Deputy Secretary of the Interior
  2. Solicitor of the Interior
  3. Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget
  4. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management
  5. Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
  6. Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
  7. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
  8. Director, Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation
  9. Central Region Director, US Geological Survey
  10. Intermountain Regional Director, National Park Service
  11. Region 6 (Mountain-Prairie Region) Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service
  12. Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land Management
  13. Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region

List of secretaries of the interior

; Parties (3) (17) (34)

; Status

NumberPortraitNameState of residenceTook officeLeft officePresident(s)Whig Party (United States)}};"1Whig Party (United States)}};"2Whig Party (United States)}};"3Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"Democratic Party (United States)}};"Republican Party (United States)}};"
[[File:ThomasEwingSr.jpg75px]]OhioWhig Party (United States)}};"
(1849–1850)
Whig Party (United States)}};"
(1850–1853)
[[File:Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan.png75px]]Pennsylvania
[[File:AxHHStuart (cropped).jpg75px]]Virginia
[[File:Robert McClelland 1.jpg75px]]MichiganDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1853–1857)
[[File:Jacob Thompson (ca. 1857).jpg75px]]MississippiDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1857–1861)
[[File:CBSmith.jpg75px]]IndianaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1861–1865)
[[File:John Palmer Usher.jpg75px]]IndianaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1865–1869)
[[File:James-Harlan.jpg75px]]IowaDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
[[File:Orville Hickman Browning - Brady-Handy.jpg75px]]IllinoisDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
[[File:Jacob Dolson Cox - Brady-Handy.jpg75px]]OhioRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1869–1877)
[[File:CDelano.jpg75px]]Ohio
[[File:Zachariah Chandler.jpg75px]]Michigan
[[File:Carl-Schurz.jpg75px]]MissouriRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1887–1881)
[[File:Samuel Jordan Kirkwood.png75px]]IowaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1881)
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1881–1885)
[[File:Henry Moore Teller.png75px]]Colorado
[[File:Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar.png75px]]MississippiDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1885–1889)
[[File:Vilas2.jpg75px]]Wisconsin
[[File:John Willock Noble.png75px]]MissouriRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1889–1893)
[[File:M. Hoke Smith, 1912.jpg75px]]GeorgiaDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1893–1897)
[[File:David Rowland Francis.png75px]]Missouri
[[File:Cornelius Newton Bliss.jpg75px]]New YorkRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1897–1901)
[[File:EAHitchcock-SecInterior.jpg75px]]Missouri
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1901–1909)
[[File:James Rudolph Garfield.png75px]]Ohio
[[File:Richard Achilles Ballinger.png75px]]WashingtonRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1909–1913)
[[File:Walter L. Fisher cph.3a00307.jpg75px]]Illinois
[[File:Secy Franklin Lane LCCN2014691522 Crop Alt.jpg75px]]CaliforniaDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1913–1921)
[[File:Alexander (T.) Vogelsang, secrétaire de l'Intérieur (gouvernement des Etats-Unis) - btv1b53036912x Trim.jpg75px]]
ActingCalifornia
[[File:John Barton Payne (1855–1935) - Official portrait.jpg75px]]Illinois
[[File:Albert Fall.jpg75px]]New MexicoRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1921–1923)
[[File:Hubert Work cph.3b20185.jpg75px]]Colorado
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1923–1929)
[[File:Roy Owen West.png75px]]Illinois
[[File:RayLymanWilbur.gif75px]]CaliforniaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1929–1933)
[[File:Ickes.gif75px]]IllinoisDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1933–1945)
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1945–1953)
[[File:Oscar Littleton Chapman.png75px]]
ActingColorado
[[File:Julius A Krug.png75px]]Wisconsin
[[File:Oscar Littleton Chapman.png75px]]Colorado
[[File:Douglas McKay.png75px]]OregonRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1953–1961)
ActingNebraska
[[File:Seaton.gif75px]]Nebraska
[[File:Stewart L Udall - 1960s.gif75px]]ArizonaDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1961–1963)
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(1963–1969)
[[File:Hickel.gif75px]]AlaskaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1969–1974)
ActingCalifornia
[[File:RogersClarkBallardMorton.jpg75px]]Maryland
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(1974–1977)
[[File:Kent Frizzell - Department of Justice.jpg75px]]
ActingKansas
[[File:Stanley K Hathaway.png75px]]Wyoming
[[File:Kent Frizzell - Department of Justice.jpg75px]]
ActingKansas
[[File:Thomas S Kleppe.gif75px]]North Dakota
ActingDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1977–1981)
[[File:Cecil D Andrus.png75px]]Idaho
[[File:James g watt.png75px]]ColoradoRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1981–1989)
[[File:J.J. Simmons, III - Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman.jpg75px]]
ActingNew Jersey
[[File:William patrick clark.png75px]]California
[[File:Donald hodel.JPG75px]]Oregon
ActingVirginiaRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(1989–1993)
[[File:Lujan manuel.jpg75px]]New Mexico
[[File:Bruce babbitt.jpg75px]]ArizonaDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(1993–2001)
[[File:Thomas Slonaker, Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of Interior - NARA - 5609637.jpg75px]]
ActingArizona
Republican Party (United States)}};"
(2001–2009)
[[File:Gale Norton.jpeg75px]]Colorado
[[File:Lynn Scarlett.jpg75px]]
ActingCalifornia
[[File:Dirk Kempthorne, official Interior Dept color photo, 2006.jpg75px]]Idaho
[[File:Lynn Scarlett.jpg75px]]
ActingCalifornia
Democratic Party (United States)}};"
(2009–2017)
[[File:Ken Salazar official DOI portrait.jpg75px]]Colorado
[[File:Sally Jewell official portrait.jpg75px]]Washington
ActingRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(2017–2021)
[[File:Ryan Zinke official portrait (cropped).jpg75px]]Montana
[[File:David Bernhardt official photo.jpg75px]]Colorado
[[File:Scott de la Vega.jpg75px]]
ActingNew YorkDemocratic Party (United States)}};"
(2021–2025)
[[File:Secretary Deb Haaland, official headshot.jpg75px]]New Mexico
[[File:Walter Cruickshank official photo.jpg75px]]
ActingRepublican Party (United States)}};"
(2025–present)
[[File:Doug Burgum 2025 DOI cropped portrait.jpg75px]]North Dakotapresent

References

References

  1. "3 U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act".
  2. Lowery, Courtney. (December 17, 2008). "Salazar, Vilsack: The West's New Land Lords".
  3. {{UnitedStatesCode. 5. 5312
  4. (September 3, 2004). "Chapter 3: Secretarial Succession".
  5. "About Secretary Jewell".
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