President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees—Scott Bessent, Doug Burgum, Lee Zeldin, and Scott Turner—are set to appear for Senate confirmation hearings on Thursday.
Hirono questions Burgum on whether he plans to endorse a ‘drill, baby, drill’ approach.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked Doug Burgum whether the Trump administration would adopt a “drill, baby, drill” approach once in office.
Hirono, who questioned Burgum about his plans for Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, asked whether drilling would occur in the area under his leadership.
Burgum, nominated by President-elect Trump to head the Department of the Interior, responded, “I’ll follow the law and the Constitution, and you can count on that. I have not heard anything about President Trump wanting to do anything other than advancing energy production for the benefit of the American people.”
Hirono, however, countered, saying, “We all know that the president wants to drill, baby, drill.” She referred to Burgum’s testimony, where he mentioned Trump’s “energy dominance” vision, and raised concerns about how he would balance energy production with environmental protection.
“Should you be confirmed,” Hirono continued, “you will be faced with decisions like this. Are you going to drill in a monument, or protect our natural resources? Or will you, as some suggest, just drill, baby, drill?”
