One month into his tenure as Interior secretary, Doug Burgum has a new chief of staff.
Wynn Radford, who was serving as Interior’s chief of staff as of Jan. 30, is no longer serving in that post and was replaced with a longtime Burgum ally who worked with him for decades in North Dakota, according to two people familiar with the staff move who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel changes.
The move marks an early shift inside the leadership ranks at an agency playing a key role in the Trump administration’s energy agenda. Burgum, who is also leading a new White House energy council, will rely on his chief of staff to help oversee expected staff cuts and other sweeping changes planned at the department that employs roughly 60,000 people.
The department didn’t publicize Radford’s appointment, but he signed a memo ordering a review of employees’ travel on Jan. 30, signing the document as Interior’s chief of staff. The Senate confirmed Burgum to serve as Interior secretary that same day.
