By: Devin Henry, The Hill, July 20, 2017

The Senate voted Thursday to advance a controversial Trump Interior Department nominee, setting up a final confirmation vote early next week.

Senators voted 56-39 to end debate on David Bernhardt’s nomination to be deputy secretary of the Interior Department.

Democrats have raised concerns about Bernhardt’s nominee because of his experience in the George W. Bush Interior Department, where he was solicitor general, and his work in the private sector. Conservation groups have also split on his nomination.

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The Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group, asked the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on Thursday to investigate whether Bernhardt continued lobbying for a California water district even after withdrawing his lobbyist registration last year.

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