Douglas Domenech
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Douglas William Domenech is an American government official who served as the Assistant
United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
for Insular Areas in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021. He is a former
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
administration political appointee who served in roles of Deputy Chief of Staff of the
United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...
, and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, as well as having held a position on the White House Working Group on the Political Status of Puerto Rico. A probe by the Interior Department's Inspector General concluded that Domenech had in 2017 misused his office for personal gain by getting the EPA to hire his son-in-law. Investigators also said that Domenech had used his office to promote another family member's business.


Early life and education

Born August 5, 1955, in Georgia, Douglas W. Domenech grew up in a military family and lived in
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
, and the father's native island of
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
as a child. His father, John Domenech, served in the Army for 30 years and retired as a colonel. His mother, Margaret Jean Heddaeus, was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
and was of German and colonial American ancestry. Domenech graduated from Antilles High School at
Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico United States Army Garrison Fort Buchanan, is a United States Army installation in Puerto Rico. It is located in the metropolitan area of the capital, San Juan. History Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish Empire from the time of Christopher Col ...
, in 1973 and earned a B.S. in forestry and wildlife management at
Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
in 1978. He is the father of blogger and columnist
Ben Domenech Benjamin Domenech (born January 1, 1982) is the editor at large of ''The Spectator World''. He is also a television commentator, radio host, and publisher of ''The Transom'', a daily subscription newsletter for political insiders. In 2013, he co ...
, who is married to
Meghan McCain Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for ABC News (United States), ABC News, Fox News, and MSNBC. She is the daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat ...
, a daughter of the late Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
.


Career

Doug Domenech served in the George W. Bush administration in the Department of the Interior as White House Liaison and as Deputy Chief of Staff. From 2010 to 2014, Domenech served as
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Bob McDonnell Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, academic administrator, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Republica ...
's
Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of Natural Resources of the
Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, making him the first
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
and Puerto Rican person to be appointed to McDonnell's cabinet. Domenech previously worked for the Forest Resources Association. From March 2015, Domenech was director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Fueling Freedom Project, which was a project to fight the
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...
's
Clean Power Plan The Clean Power Plan was an Presidency of Barack Obama, Obama administration policy aimed at combating climate change that was first proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 201 ...
. Domenech is the Interior Secretary's representative on the Advisory Committee of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.


Ethics violation investigation

On April 23, 2019, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Domenech was one of six officials being investigated for ethics violations by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General. Domenech was one of six political appointees of the Trump administration at the Interior Department under investigation for having "violated federal ethics rules by engaging with their former employers or clients on department-related business." In 2017 Trump had signed an executive order requiring appointees to recuse themselves for two years on any matters involving their former employers and clients. According to his calendar, on April 6, 2017, Domenech had two meetings with his former employer, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, while the think tank was also a party to lawsuits against the Interior Department. Six months later, one of the lawsuits was settled by the government. Domenech's ethics violation was first uncovered by ''The Guardian'' newspaper and later confirmed by the Interior Department's Inspector General.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domenech, Douglas 1955 births Living people American politicians of Puerto Rican descent United States Department of the Interior officials State cabinet secretaries of Virginia Virginia Tech alumni Virginia Republicans George W. Bush administration personnel First Trump administration personnel Texas Public Policy Foundation people