Last month, the U.S. Senate confirmed Susan Combs to be the assistant secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with a 57-36 vote.
Combs was nominated for the position on July 10, 2017.
“I am thrilled that the Senate has finally voted for Susan Combs to be an assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior,” said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. “Susan is highly qualified and will continue be a huge asset to our team as we work to make government more efficient and more accountable to the people.”
In this role, Combs will assist in policy development, management reforms to align efforts among the bureaus and stewardship of DOI’s fiscal resources.
“I am deeply honored to serve in the Trump administration and to work with Secretary Bernhardt. The Department of the Interior is an extraordinarily important federal department, and I look forward to serving the American people,” Combs said.
Combs is a small business owner and operates a ranch in the Big Bend area of Texas.
She previously served in the Texas Legislature, writing and passing the state’s private property legislation and working to ensure greater transparency in government spending.
In her 16 years as a statewide elected official, she served as Texas’ first female agriculture commissioner and then as the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
In these positions, she provided strategic and innovative management, efficient fiscal and operational oversight, successful implementation of practical public-private partnerships and delivered efficient and effective services to the public, which earned her numerous awards.
“Ms. Combs has led an impressive career in both elected public office and the private sector,” Regan Beck, Texas Farm Bureau director of Government Affairs, said. “In each role she’s served, she’s gained the respect of those she’s worked with. She has been a friend of Texas agriculture, and we look forward to working with her in her new position with the Department of the Interior.”