Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the US Fish and Wildlife Service has links to powerful agricultural interests opposed to protections for endangered species she would oversee, the Guardian has learned.
Aurelia Skipwith, who is already a top official at the interior department, formerly worked at the agrochemical giant Monsanto.
New revelations show she also has ties to the Westlands Water District, a political powerhouse with a history of chafing against Endangered Species Act regulations that can interfere with farmers’ demands for water in California.
Yet a Senate committee approved Skipwith’s nomination Wednesday in a party-line vote of 11-10.
