The longtime head of the Interior Department agency that oversees offshore energy production in deep waters is stepping down and will be replaced by an energy industry lobbyist, people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves that were not yet public, said Tuesday.
The change comes as the Trump administration has cut thousands of experienced career staffers even as it seeks to boost U.S. oil production from its record high levels.
Walter Cruickshank, the longtime civil servant who helped lead the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for more than two decades, is retiring, three people told POLITICO. It was unclear when his last day will be.
Cruickshank has led BOEM since its creation in 2011 and helped lead its predecessor agency for nearly a decade before that. He had worked at Interior for 40 years, according to his department biography. Cruickshank had briefly been the acting head of Interior before the confirmation of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
