December 16, 2008 03:38 AM UTC

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

• 0 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

The Rocky Mountain News has the story:

Sen. Ken Salazar is expected to become Interior Secretary in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, with a formal announcement to come within days, sources told the Rocky Mountain News on Monday.

Salazar has long been considered a leading candidate for Interior Secretary, based in part on his past work leading the state Department of Natural Resources.

On Monday, three Democratic sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said Salazar had been offered the job, and the announcement was expected within 48 hours.

“It’s a done deal,” said one source, although others said it was a difficult decision for Salazar, four years into his first term as U.S. senator.

“He’s a very thoughtful guy, and this is a big decision,” one source said. “It’s a great opportunity, but so is being in the Senate.”

At a televised news conference earlier in the day, Obama had to explain why he left out an announcement of the Interior Secretary position while he was unveiling the rest of the team that will oversee energy and environment issues.

The Interior Secretary oversees vast tracts of public lands, including environmentally sensitive areas where President Bush’s Interior Department tried to vastly expand oil drilling and minerals extraction…

“I have very mixed emotions,” Ritter said in a written statement. “Ken Salazar has been an extremely effective United States Senator for Colorado these past four years, particularly as a moderate centrist. But if a nomination to join the Obama administration comes to pass, Sen. Salazar would make an equally outstanding Interior secretary for the country, for the West and for Colorado.”

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.