Barrasso Vows Quick Replacement After BLM Nominee Drops Out Over Trump Criticism

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming is promising to help find someone to run the Bureau of Land Management after President Donald Trump’s nominee suddenly dropped out amid revelations that she criticized the president on social media over the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Denver-based oil industry lobby group Western Energy Alliance, withdrew Wednesday morning just before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing was set for her and a pair of other nominees.

The committee, which includes Barrasso and other western-state senators, went ahead with the hearing on the other two nominees. Barrasso and many other senators were absent, but a Barrasso spokeswoman said he had time conflicts. The spokeswoman said he went to a Finance Committee meeting and had to make time for a speech on the Senate floor.

‘Disgusted By The Violence’

Sgamma wrote Jan. 7, 2021, regarding the riot at the U.S. Capitol the day before: “I am disgusted by the violence witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it.”

In the post, she also criticized the looting and rioting across America in 2020.

“I am also disgusted that similar violence over the summer was routinely excused by most of the media and many politicians,” she wrote.

Sgamma joined the Western Energy Alliance in 2006, according to the group’s website. She wrote the post as a “Special Message to Alliance Members,” acknowledging she was wading into matters outside of the group’s purview but couldn’t help herself from doing so.

Her bio on the group’s website says she has a background in information technology and served as an Army officer. It says she attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech. It doesn’t say where she’s from.

‘Very Well Qualified’

Revelations of Sgamma’s post spread on social media just before the Energy and Natural Resources hearingat which the chairman, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, announced her withdrawal. He did not elaborate on the dropout, saying nothing about her social media post. 

The panel’s top Democrat, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, also mentioned her withdrawal but said nothing further.

No senator who was present for the 90-minute hearing spoke about the post, though U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was “disappointed” by the withdrawal.

“She is, I think, very well qualified and we were really counting on her to unlock some of things that had stalled out in the previous administration,” Murkowski said.

New Nominee ASAP

Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily amid the fallout: “We depend on strong leadership at the BLM and need a director in place as soon as possible. I will work with the Trump administration to quickly confirm a new BLM director who will responsibly manage our federal lands and work with us to unleash American energy.”

Barrasso declined to elaborate on the withdrawal. U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, did not reply to a request for comment. Lummis does not serve on the Energy and Natural Resources panel.

Republican U.S. Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho and Steve Daines of Montana, members of that committee who were absent Wednesday, did not return email messages from Cowboy State Daily seeking comment.

Lee and a small batch of other senators on the 20-member panel questioned nominees for the Energy Department: Preston Wells Griffith III and Dario Gil.

The BLM — part of the Interior Department — manages tens of millions of acres for energy, grazing and recreation. Barrasso noted the agency “plays an outsized role in states like Wyoming. Nearly half of our land is owned by the federal government.”

Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.