Interior secretary faces scrutiny for travel amid shutdown

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  Travel and Leisure on Wed, Nov 05th, 2025 by Seattle Times

During the first weeks of the 2018 federal shutdown, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke found himself under intense scrutiny after a flight that took him from Washington, D.C., to a private ranch in Montana. The trip, which he claimed was a brief “business meeting,” sparked a flurry of criticism from both senators and the press, raising questions about the conduct of cabinet officials when the federal government was closed.

The shutdown began on December 22, 2018, after the House of Representatives failed to pass a continuing‑resolution to keep the government open. As the Interior Department shut down, the agency’s staff were ordered to stay home, and all non‑essential travel was prohibited. Within days of the shutdown, Zinke boarded a commercial flight that landed at a private airstrip near his family’s ranch in northern Montana. On the trip he stopped for a coffee, rode a short 10‑mile drive to his property, and then returned to Washington by the end of the day. According to a release from the Interior Department, Zinke had been “in a meeting with a contractor on a land‑lease agreement,” but the contractor’s office later confirmed that no such meeting took place during that trip.

Senate Republicans, led by Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska, quickly demanded an explanation. In a statement to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Fischer called the trip “unnecessary, inappropriate, and a blatant violation of the shutdown rules.” She pointed to the fact that no business or contractual meetings had been scheduled for the period and noted that Zinke’s aides had been unavailable for the alleged meeting because of the shutdown. “If the Secretary was not engaged in any essential business, he should have stayed at the department and complied with the shutdown regulations,” Fischer said.

The criticism was not limited to the Republicans. Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado also expressed concerns on the Senate floor, asking, “Secretary, can you explain why you chose to travel during a period when the entire department was closed, and no other senior officials had been granted permission to leave?” Zinke answered that he had been “scheduled for a meeting with a private contractor about a lease on a piece of land” and that the meeting was “essential for a pending lease agreement.”

The public backlash was swift. A number of local news outlets in Montana reported that Zinke’s trip had cost the state thousands of dollars in flight and lodging expenses, all paid for by the federal government. In Washington, a column in the Seattle Times ran a photo montage of Zinke on the flight and at the ranch, juxtaposed with the interior department’s budget. The column’s author quoted an anonymous insider who said, “The Secretary’s team made the trip possible by pulling resources from a department that was supposed to be shut down.”

The fallout intensified when Interior Department officials issued a statement acknowledging that the trip “was not properly documented” and that the department would conduct a “full review of the Secretary’s travel and expense records.” While the statement did not confirm a formal investigation, it did note that the Department of Justice would be notified if any irregularities were discovered. The review was to include a forensic audit of all expenses from December 1, 2018, to February 28, 2019, the period that encompassed the shutdown and the subsequent re‑opening.

Zinke’s travel controversy was only one of several challenges that the interior secretary faced during his tenure. A few months later, a senior staff member was arrested for a drug‑related offense, and Zinke’s relationship with the Department of Justice was called into question for his handling of the matter. In March 2019, amid mounting pressure from both sides of the aisle, Zinke announced his resignation, citing “personal and professional” reasons. His departure came after a series of investigations into his conduct, including the 2018 travel incident, which had eroded confidence among his congressional colleagues.

The episode underscored the importance of adherence to federal shutdown protocols and the need for transparency in the conduct of public officials. For the Interior Department, the fallout prompted a reevaluation of travel policies, especially during periods of limited operations. The agency subsequently updated its travel guidelines to include stricter oversight and documentation requirements, ensuring that future officials would be held to higher standards when the government is on paper closed but still must serve the public interest.