David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the 53rd United States secretary of the interior from 2019 to 2021 in the administration of Donald Trump. He previously was a shareholder at the Colorado law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he was a lobbyist and natural resources attorney. He began working for the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2001, and served as the department's solicitor from 2006 to 2009 and deputy secretary from 2017 to 2019.
President Donald Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the deputy secretary of the interior in April 2017. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 24, 2017, and sworn into office on August 1. He became acting secretary of the interior on January 2, 2019, following Ryan Zinke's resignation. Bernhardt was nominated to officially become Secretary of the Interior in February 2019 and was confirmed on April 11, 2019.
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Early life and education
Bernhardt grew up in Rifle, Colorado. His father was a county extension agent and his mother was in the real estate business.
Bernhardt was active in Colorado politics from the age of sixteen, when he made his case to the Rifle City Council not to levy taxes on arcade games at a teen center he was starting in his hometown. He left high school early, earning his GED, then his bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1990. While at the University of Northern Colorado, he applied for and received an internship at the Supreme Court of the United States. He graduated with honors from the George Washington University Law School in 1994. He was admitted to the Colorado Bar Association later that year.
Career
Early career
Bernhardt began his career as a lawyer in Colorado. In the 1990s, he worked for U.S. Representative Scott McInnis, a Grand Junction Republican. In 1998 he became an associate with Brownstein Hyatt and Farber, a Denver law and lobbying firm.
George W. Bush administration
Bernhardt worked for the Department of the Interior during George W. Bush's presidency. Early in his career with the DOI, he was deputy chief of staff and counselor to then-secretary of the interior Gale Norton. He also served early on at the DOI as director of congressional and legislative affairs. Later he was confirmed and served as the solicitor at the DOI. He was also the United States commissioner to the International Boundary Commission, U.S. and Canada.
President George W. Bush nominated Bernhardt to serve as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior in November 2005, subject to Senate confirmation. He was the DOI deputy solicitor at the time. Bernhardt was sworn into office in November 2006, after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He served as Solicitor from 2006 to January, 2009.
Legal work and lobbying work
In 2009, he rejoined the Colorado-based law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He became a shareholder in the firm and chairman of the firm's natural resources law practice. Bernhardt's clients included Westlands Water District, Halliburton, Cobalt International Energy, Samson Resources, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
Through Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Bernhardt represented entities such as the proposed Rosemont Copper open pit mine in Arizona.
In 2011, Bernhardt filed a lawsuit for the Westlands Water District that "sought to force the feds to make good on a commitment to build a multibillion-dollar system to dispose of the poisoned water" resulting from toxic irrigation in the Westlands district.
He was previously a member of the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, and chairman of its Finance, Audit, & Compliance Committee. He resigned prior to January 2017.
Trump administration
Until the end of 2016, Bernhardt remained an attorney and lobbyist for the Westlands Water District. In November 2016, he de-listed himself as a lobbyist in order to comply with the new president's ban on lobbyists joining his administration. After withdrawing his formal registration as a lobbyist, Bernhardt became a consultant to the Westlands Water District for a $20,000 per month retainer. While remaining a lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck, after November 2016 Bernhardt was briefly in charge of the Interior Department transition team for President Donald Trump. In that role, he was in charge of overseeing staffing in the Department of the Interior along with Devin Nunes.
Until resigning by early 2017, he was on the board of the Center for Environmental Science Accuracy and Reliability.
On April 28, 2017, Trump nominated Bernhardt to be the deputy secretary of the interior. The role made Bernhardt the "top deputy to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and COO of the federal lands and energy agency". The appointment was praised by Zinke, Republican members of Congress, and former-interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne, as well as Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable, Ducks Unlimited, and the Boone and Crocket Club. His nomination was strongly opposed by conservationists, fishing groups, and California Democrats, who cited his history of representing and lobbying on behalf of oil companies and agricultural interests as well as conflict-of-interest concerns arising from his firm's work on regulation issues with the DOI.
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in mid-May 2017, Bernhardt testified that "I believe we need to take the science as it comes, whatever that is," and "apply the law and be honest with the science" at the Interior Department but also said the president's views, rather than the recommendations of climate scientists, would guide the Interior Department's policies whenever possible. Ethics issues were raised by Senators such as Maria Cantwell, with Bernhardt replying he took ethics very seriously. He said that unless he received authorization to do so, he would not involve himself substantially in any particular matter involving his former clients.
On July 24, 2017, the Senate confirmed Bernhardt's nomination by a vote of 53–43. He was then sworn into office on August 1, 2017.
Post-government career
After leaving the Department of the Interior, Bernhardt rejoined his former law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck as a senior counsel. Bernhardt is the chairman of the America First Policy Institute's Center for American Freedom. In November of 2024, the New York Times reported that Bernhardt was involved in the Trump Vance presidential transition. In 2023, he published You Report to Me. Accountability for the Failing Administrative State (Encounter Books, 2023). The book relates his experience serving in various capacities in the U.S. Department of Interior, including as Secretary in the first term of President Donald Trump.
Personal life
He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife Gena. Bernhardt is a hunter and angler.